Julie Hinds

Detroit Free Press

The Flint water crisis has made dramatic headlines across the country. Now it will become a TV docudrama.

Deadline.com reports that Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who produced NBC's "The Wiz Live," and Sony Television are developing "Flint" for the Lifetime network.

The project has been put on the fast track by the cable network and was inspired by the Time magazine cover story from February, "The Poisoning of An American City," which featured a photo by Detroit Free Press staffer Regina Boone.

A spokesperson for Lifetime said via email that the docudrama will look at what led to "the toxic crime" against the Michigan city's residents.

Complete coverage: Flint water crisis

The contamination of Flint's water supply and the massive health implications and political fallout continues to be followed closely by the media. The Free Press reported today that a task force appointed Gov. Rick Snyder told legislators that the situation represented a failure of leadership by the state as well as a reason to change Michigan's emergency manager law.

Since the project is still in development, a shooting location hasn't been determined.

Zadan and Meron have a long list of Hollywood credits that includes producing the Oscar telecast three times. They also are working on a live version of Aaron Sorkin's "A Few Good Men" for NBC.

Contact Detroit Free Press writer Julie Hinds: 313-222-6427 or jhinds@freepress.com.