Prolific TV producer Marti Noxon has inked a multiple-year overall deal with independent studio Skydance to create and develop new projects for the studio. Reportedly, the three-year deal is in the seven-figures. The first project under the deal is the part coming-of-age story and part revenge fantasy drama Dietland. She’s currently exec producing Lifetime’s UnREAL, Bravo’s Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce and CBS’s Code Black. Her past credits include Mad Men, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Grey’s Anatomy and Glee.
Universal Pictures and Perfect World Pictures have finalized a multi-year financing agreement, which will encompass features throughout the entire Universal slate. The five-year partnership will cover the co-financing of 50 films, making the Chinese multi-media company a major player in global entertainment. Reportedly, Perfect World will invest $500 million in Universal’s slate, with the financing split evenly between debt and equity contributions and will receive a 25 percent share of the majority of the films released by Universal.
Emmy-winning writer-producer K.P. Anderson has inked an overall deal with Lionsgate TV to create original series and formats through his Pygmy Wolf Productions banner. Under the pact, Lionsgate will have exclusive rights to alternative and scripted TV content produced by Pygmy Wolf. Anderson previously exec produced E!’s pop-culture series The Soup, BBC America’s The Nerdist, Nickelodeon’s You Gotta See This and Style’s The Dish, among others.
Voice actress Nancy Cartwright has launched Spotted Cow, a film and television production company that will finance, produce and acquire live action and animated films, television series, as well as entertainment for digital platforms with budgets not to exceed $15 million. Cartwright has tapped producer Peter Kjenaas as President, while producer Monica Padro will come aboard as VP. The company’s first project is the coming of age drama In Search Of Fellini starring Maria Bello. Cartwright is best known for being the voice of Bart Simpson on the long-running The Simpsons animated series.
Multihyphenate James Franco has founded nonprofit film studio Elysium Bandini Studios that joins the Art of Elysium charity with Franco’s Rabbit Bandini production banner to support the film projects of students and professionals, with proceeds going to Art of Elysium. The studio has already completed 14 features with the majority directed by students from UCLA, Cal Arts, USC and NYU and featuring Natalie Portman, Kristen Wiig and Jimmy Kimmel, among others. Vince Jolivette, Jennifer Howell and Franco are heading the venture. Multiple donors are funding the studio along with an Indiegogo campaign that secured $689,000 for three films. Workers on both sides of the camera donate their time and films are budgeted at $200,000 or less.
Writer Andy Parker has inked a multi-year overall deal with Universal Cable Productions. He’s currently writing Wishmakers, in development at NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment for Bravo and the drama, The Accused, which is in development at Lifetime. His previous projects include the dramedy Stanistan, which was shot as a pilot for USA Network in 2014, and the dark family drama The Disgraces, developed at HBO.
Prolific producer Brad Falchuk has extended his overall deal at 20th Century Fox Television where he will continue to develop new projects for broadcast and cable. He currently exec produces FX’s American Horror Story and Fox’s Scream Queens. He recently exec produced The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story which scored 8.3 million for FX. Other credits include Nip/Tuck and Glee.
Producer Wendi Trilling has launched a production company, TrillTV, and has inked a pod deal with Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment to develop and produce comedy and drama projects for network and cable. The deal originated from her collaboration with Kaplan on the Adult Children, a half-hour comedy from CBS Studios, which marked Trilling’s first time as a producer. Previously Trilling was head of comedy at CBS where she had served in various exec roles for the past decade.
Mandalay Sports Media and Michael D. Ratner’s OBB Pictures have signed into a co-production agreement to develop and produce a slate of sports-themed films, TV projects and multiplatform programming. Their first series is the documentary, Embiid, that focuses on Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid’s journey from Cameroon to Kansas, and ultimately the NBA. Ratner will also direct six episodes of the digital series Ride Along for Vice Sports that takes viewers inside the car of star players as they head to their biggest games of the year.
Fortissimo Films has signed a multi-picture sales deal with Chinese multi-hyphenate Zhang Wei and his banner Huahao Film & Media. His banner focuses on finding stories that spotlight marginalized Chinese lives. The deal includes his first two films, Factory Boss and Destiny. He is currently in post for The Sound Of A Dream, which follows the inspirational story of four visually impaired Tibetan children.
Film producer Cassian Elwes along with Armory Films partners Chris Lemole and Tim Zajaros are starting the indie film company, Zeal Media Co. with the goal of financing and/or producing up to eight films per year. The shingle will focus on sophisticated, thought-provoking and talent-driven material. Their first film is Billionaire Boys Club (mentioned in SSN’s AFM Most Bankable List) starring Ansel Elgort and Taron Edgerton. Previously, Armory and Elwes collaborated on the Cabin Fever reboot. Elwes is also the principal at Elevated Film Sales, a producer at e2b Captial and a partner at Lifeboat Capital.
Film production, finance, sales and distribution consortium AMBI Group has signed a multi-year, multi-picture joint venture partnership with Dubai-based group Barajoun Entertainment. The two companies will co-finance and co-produce five family-friendly features (some animated) in five years. Each film will have a budge in the $50-million-dollar range and will be fully financed by AMBI and Barajoun. The animation and production work will be handled by Barajoun’s Dubai studios and AMBI’s AIC Studios. AMBI Distribution will oversee worldwide distribution.