Disney Branded TV has put in a pilot order for Coven Academy (working title), a single-camera dramedy series for Disney Channel and Disney+ featuring a coven of teen witches-in-training who are trying to save their town from a mysterious threat. 

The pilot episode’s script was written by Tim Federle (pictured), who is best known as the Emmy-nominated creator, EP and showrunner on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. He also co-wrote the Oscar-nominated film Ferdinand (2017) and served as a writer/director on Disney+ pic Better Nate Than Ever (2022), based on a same-name middle-grade book he wrote that was published in 2013 by Simon & Schuster.

Federle and his team at Chorus Boy Productions will executive produce Coven Academy under a multi-year overall deal he has had with Disney Branded TV since 2018. Federle is also executive producing Vampirina, a series about a music-loving vampire attending a boarding school that’s slated to launch on Disney Channel and Disney+ later this year.

Disney’s penchant for supernatural storytelling has proven to be lucrative in the past—most recently, sequel/spinoff series Wizards Beyond Waverly Place set a Disney+ record last year by generating 3.2 million views in its first two weeks of streaming to become the most-watched Disney Channel series premiere of all time on the platform. 

Image credit: Justin Patterson