Per Exec Shuffle, WGA East and Vice Media have completed a tentative agreement on their first contract. Vice’s estimated 70 covered staffers will vote next week to ratify the deal. The deal includes an economic package worth 29% over three years, protections on the current health insurance offered employees, protections for employees to engage in non-Vice work, compensatory time off when employees work on days off, guaranteed severance pay and monthly meetings to discuss workplace issues.
TV producer Chip Johannessen has signed a new overall deal with 20th Century Fox TV and its cable division Fox 21 TV Studios. The new three-year agreement replaces the two-year overall deal signed last year. He currently is the executive producer of Homeland and will now stay full-time on the show for the next two years. In addition, he will write a couple of the first six episodes of Season 6, going back up to writing/co-writing three to four episodes a season as he had done in previous seasons.
Producer Chris Morgan has signed a three-year overall deal Universal Television to develop and produce projects for broadcast, cable and digital platforms as well as write new series projects. His deal had previously been at 20th Century Fox TV. He will be joined by Ainsley Davies, head of development for film and television at his Chris Morgan Prods. His credits include screenwriter duties on the third through the eighth installments of Universal’s Fast & Furious franchise, executive producing the last three. He is also handling Universal’s upcoming tentpole monster franchise beginning with The Mummy reboot starring Tom Cruise.
Sky and Sony Pictures Television have signed a multi-year, pan-European agreement to bring Sony films to Sky’s subscription and transactional services in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy. The deal includes all new and future Sony titles. Films will be available a few months after their theatrical releases, and a year ahead of any other subscription service. Sky’s streaming services, NOW TV and Sky Online, are also included for films live and on demand. Sky is responsible for creating Europe’s largest single pay-TV operator in November 2014 with an estimated 21 million subscribers.
Sam Raimi and Florian von Donnersmarck have started Allegory Films in partnership with Beijing Cultural Investment Holding Ltd. The production company will be co-owned with the Chinese firm, which has committed $150 million in initial capital. Additional financing resources will bring the total anticipated production volume to about $500 million. Films will be produced and financed with budgets in the $30 million-$80 million range, with plans to align with a U.S. studio for worldwide distribution rights to its movies.
TV producer Corey Nickerson has extended her overall deal with ABC Studios for three more years, through 2019. She joined the studio in 2014 under a two-year overall deal. She’s currently a co-executive producer on Black-ish and will be elevated to executive producer in the upcoming third season. Additionally, she will develop new projects for broadcast, cable, and streaming services.
Time Warner’s premium channel operation and Discovery Communications has bought an undisclosed equity stake in graphics company Otoy. The company will leverage the investment funds to “fuel development and distribution of original holographic content, enabling HBO and Discovery to deliver new entertainment experiences to consumers across TV, mobile, web, social and emerging wearable technologies such as virtual and augmented reality.” Other investors include Autodesk and Russian venture capitalist Yuri Milner. Jon Stewart announced last year that he plans to work with Otoy to develop innovative programming for HBO.
TV producer Terry Matalas has signed an overall deal with Universal Cable Productions to develop and produce scripted programming for the NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment portfolio as well as for external networks and streaming services. He is currently the co-creator, executive producer and showrunner on 12 Monkeys, which returns for a second season on April 18.
Producers Michael Brandt and Derek Haas have signed a new multi-year show deal with Universal Television. Under the pact, the duo will continue to executive produce Chicago Fire and spinoff series Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med and will join the legal drama pilot Chicago Justice, as executive producers. The embedded spinoff episode of Chicago P.D. is being filmed this month. On the feature side they are currently filming the thriller Overdrive, starring Scott Eastwood, which they wrote and produced.
China’s Alibaba Pictures is investing in Paramount’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows and Star Trek Beyond. Last year the companies partnered on Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. Alibaba’s subsidiaries Taobao Movie and Yulebao will provide service and support to the two films. TMNT: Out Of The Shadows begins its international release in late May and might be screened in China before the unofficial July blackout. Star Trek Beyond might be released in late summer in China.