Aaron Korsh, creator and executive producer of USA’s hit drama series Suits has signed a two-year overall deal with Universal Cable Productions. Korsh has been under an overall deal at UCP since December 2012, will continue as showrunner on Suits and develop new projects for UCP. Suits has been renewed for a sixth season and will begin production this year. Korsh began his career in television as a PA on Everybody Loves Raymond before landing staff writer positions on various shows. He began as co-executive producer on Suits, before being promoted to his current position.
CBS Corporation have signed a long-term licensing agreement for Sky Atlantic to be the exclusive home to Showtime’s growing portfolio of programming across all its territories in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy. Previously, Sky has licensed select Showtime content from CBS on a program-by-program basis. The deal will span all new and future series, including Billions, which premiered in the U.S. with the best series debut performance ever for a Showtime original series. Alongside scripted content, Sky will have an exclusive option to take all new Showtime distributed unscripted shows such as documentaries, late night and reality shows.
Oscar-nominated producer Michael London and his production company, Groundswell Productions, have inked a multi-year first-look deal with CBS TV Studios. The non-exclusive pact will include projects for the broadcast networks as well as CBS Studios’ premium cable sibling Showtime. The first sale under the deal is Monger, a half-hour comedy at Showtime. Under the deal, Groundswell has hired Hilary Zaitz Michael as Director of Development for Film and Television. Groundswell Productions’ credits include the Hulu drama series Chance, The Magicians, which premieres next Monday on Syfy, and the upcoming HBO movie Confirmation.
As reported in this week’s Exec Shuffle, Beijing-based Perfect World Pictures and Universal Pictures are closing in on a deal for a $500 million movie slate financing deal to run five years and cover 25% of the budget of each film. Universal requested a distribution fee of 12.5% and excluded Fast And Furious, Jurassic and Illumination Minions franchises. On films Universal shares with Legendary, Perfect World would conceivably take 25% of Universal’s limited stake, on films like the Bourne Identity franchise and the Tom Cruise-starrer The Mummy. The funding will include $250 million equity with the rest in debt.
Pinewood Studios Group has joined forces with StoryFirst PST Limited to form Pinewood Television. The new company will create, develop and finance high quality drama series for the international market. Helen Gregory has been named their Creative Director. Pinewood Television is expected to be both an originating producer and a co-producing partner for major drama projects looking for deficit funding. It is in the process of organizing long-term external financing for its slate from an assembly of investors and banks. The new division will act as a one-stop shop, through partnerships with producers, providing both development and deficit financing with enhanced upside economics.
Relativity’s television operation has been re-launched as independent content studio Critical Content. The company will be headed by Tom Forman and Andrew Marcus and funded by an investor group led by Anchorage Capital Group, with contributions from Falcon Investments with a total of $75 million of growth capital. The goal is to develop unscripted and scripted content for broadcast, cable, and digital platforms. Critical Content currently has more than 50 projects in production for more than 30 different networks including Limitless, Catfish and The Great Food Truck Race among others. Critical Content will expand upon their existing “Pod Model” where producers get a capital investment and access to infrastructure to boost their development and production capabilities.
Reality producers David Shumsky and Mark Harris have signed an overall deal with Lionsgate TV to create new, original programming and formats for the alternative group through their Ohana Pictures shingle. Lionsgate will have exclusive rights to unscripted TV produced by Ohana Pictures, as well as first-call on any scripted development. Kicking & Screaming, an eight-episode competition series, is the first series order under this deal with a premiere date in 2016 via Fox. The series was co-created with Matt Kunitz, who is also under an overall deal with Lionsgate TV.
Endemol Shine UK has acquired short-form and branded content production house Electric Robin and digital talent management firm OP Talent. The companies will supplement the existing commercial department. Electric Robin, a director-led business spanning commercials, branded entertainment and original material, was launched in 2013 by Kevin Batchelor and Ross Brandon with brand clients that incldue Doritos and Superdry. OP Talent’s roster includes 11 of the UK’s top online influencers such as game commentator KSI, Legends Of Gaming host Ali-A and YouTube channel Comedy Shorts Gamer.
CBS Corporation and Stan, Australia’s leading local subscription video-on-demand provider, have signed a long-term, exclusive licensing agreement to bring all future Showtime series and programming to Stan’s streaming service. It will also provide Stan, a joint venture between Nine Entertainment Co. and Fairfax Media, with an exclusive license to the Showtime brand and trademark, making Stan the official home of Showtime in Australia. The deal will include exclusive SVOD rights to CBS and The CW series such as Madam Secretary, Limitless, Elementary, and Reign.