Exclusive: The cult British gangster movie Sexy Beast is getting a small-screen prequel. Anonymous Content and Paramount Television have acquired the TV rights to the 2000 film for a TV series that will track the origin story of the Gal Dove, Don Logan and Teddy Bass characters, played in the movie by Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley and Ian McShane, respectively. Writer Michael Caleo, whose TV credits include The Sopranos and Rescue Me, will write the adaptation.
Directed by Jonathan Glazer from a screenplay by Louis Mellis and David Scinto, the film follows Gal Dove (Winstone) an ex-criminal who had moved to Spain with his wife DeeDee (Amanda Redman) to start a new life, and Don Logan (Kingsley), an old criminal associate who aggressively recruits him for a heist job on behalf of crime lord Teddy Bass (McShane).
The potential series, which will be shopped to cable and streaming networks, will tell...
Directed by Jonathan Glazer from a screenplay by Louis Mellis and David Scinto, the film follows Gal Dove (Winstone) an ex-criminal who had moved to Spain with his wife DeeDee (Amanda Redman) to start a new life, and Don Logan (Kingsley), an old criminal associate who aggressively recruits him for a heist job on behalf of crime lord Teddy Bass (McShane).
The potential series, which will be shopped to cable and streaming networks, will tell...
- 8/16/2018
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Craig Zisk has stepped in to direct AMC drama pilot Knifeman after Brian Percival pulled out last week for personal reasons. I hear Zisk is already in London working in the pilot. Based on Wendy Moore’s John Hunter biography The Knife Man: Blood, Body Snatching And The Birth Of Modern Surgery, Knifeman centers on a charming, arrogant surgeon who robs graves and harvests organs in 18th century London. Rolin Jones wrote the pilot, which he developed with Ron Fitzgerald; both exec produce. Zisk, repped by UTA, Brillstein Entertainment and attorney Jared Levine, directed two broadcast comedy pilots this season, ABC’s An American Education and NBC’s Two to Go. He also was a co-executive producer/director on Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Zisk’s drama credits include FX’s American Horror Story and Nip/Tuck.
- 5/5/2014
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Comedy writer Hilary Winston has signed a new two-year, seven-figure overall deal at Sony Pictures TV. This is Winston’s fourth consecutive overall pact at Sony TV, bringing her tenure at the studio to eight years. Winston is the writer/executive producer/showrunner of CBS/Sony TV’s midseason comedy series Bad Teacher, based on the feature, which debuts April 24. During her stint at Sony TV, Winston also served as a co-executive producer on the studio’s comedy series Community and Happy Endings and sold several projects, two of which went to pilot, Bad Teacher at CBS and Happy Valley at NBC. Winston, repped by UTA, Mosaic and attorney Jared Levine, segued to Sony after getting her break on NBC/20th TV’s My Name Is Earl, which she joined right after the pilot and stayed on for the comedy’s entire four-season run. She also is a contributing editor for Playboy Magazine.
- 3/20/2014
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
CAA has signed actor, writer, and comedian Aziz Ansari, who co-stars in NBC’s Parks And Recreation. The actor, who had been at UTA, just opened his third Netflix hourlong stand-up special Buried Alive, and resumes touring next month. Anzari most recently voiced the Fox animated film Epic and made a short cameo until he fell into the pits of hell in This is The End. Before that he appeared in 30 Minutes Or Less and Funny People. Ansari separately is writing a book for Penguin Press about how modern dating has been complicated by the Internet and other technological innovations. The book comes out next year. Ansari continues to be repped by Apa for books and comedy touring, managed by Apa Dave Becky and David Miner of 3 Arts Entertainment, and lawyered by Jared Levine.
- 3/4/2014
- by MIKE FLEMING JR
- Deadline
Liz Friedlander is set to direct CBS’ Kevin Williamson drama pilot, from Wbtv. Written and executive produced by The Following creator Williamson, the psychological thriller centers around a pair of detectives who handle stalking incidents for the Threat Management Unit of the Lapd. Friedlander has a shorthand with Williamson — she has directed multiple episodes of The Following and Williamson’s CW series The Vampire Diaries and helmed the pilot and multiple episodes of CW’s The Secret Circle, which Williamson executive produced. Craig Zisk (New Girl, Parks & Recreation) is set to direct NBC’s comedy pilot Two To Go, from Universal TV, David Janollari Entertainment and Jason Bateman’s Aggregate Films. Written by Kevin Chelsey and Bryan Shukoff, the project centers on long-time best friends Kurt and Laura who grapple with the challenges of modern-day dating. This marks the second pilot for Zisk this season — he just wrapped ABC’s comedy An American Education.
- 2/18/2014
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Modern Family executive producers Paul Corrigan and Brad Walsh have closed a two-year overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television, the studio behind the Emmy-winning comedy series. Under the pact, the duo will continue on Modern Family, where they have been since the inception and will develop new projects for the studio. They recently shepherded the proposed Modern Family spinoff starring Rob Riggle. “Paul and Brad are smart, funny guys and Chris and Steve love them as much as we do,” 20th chairmen Dana Walden and Gary Newman said. “Five seasons in, Modern Family is about as perfect a comedy series as there is, and this deal with Paul and Brad keeps them on this winning team as well as allows them to develop their own projects down the road.” Corrigan and Walsh were recently nominated for a WGA award for the Career Day Modern Family episode featuring Riggle and...
- 1/23/2014
- by ERIK PEDERSEN
- Deadline TV
Fox has put in development Three The Hard Way, a comedy inspired by NBA superstar Dwyane Wade and his bestselling book A Father First, in which Wade reflects on being a father to two boys. Written by Ben Watkins (Burn Notice), the Fox project, from Sony Pictures TV, centers on NBA superstar Daryl Wade and his entourage of eccentric friends as they find themselves parenting by committee when he gets full custody of his two young sons. The premise draws parallels to the 2011 Fox comedy pilot Council Of Dads starring Kyle Bornheimer. Watkins and Wade are executive producing Three The Hard Way with Mike Tollin of Mandalay Sports Media and Justin Lin, Danielle Woodrow, and Troy Craig Poon through Lin’s Perfect Storm Entertainment. The project was originally set up at Fox by Wade and Tollin earlier this year. Lin joined in June drawn by his love for basketball and...
- 11/19/2013
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Exclusive: In a competitive situation with multiple networks chasing, Fox has landed Chasing Skips, an hourlong action-comedy project from Cougar Town executive producer/showrunner Blake McCormick and the series’ co-creator Bill Lawrence. Written by McCormick, Chasing Skips centers on two down-on-their-luck guys in search of a way to improve their lives who decide to enter the world of bounty hunting, despite having no experience and very few skills. Warner Bros TV and Lawrence’s studio-based Doozer are producing, with McCormick, Lawrence and Jeff Ingold executive producing. Chasing Skips stems from a blind script deal McCormick inked with Warner Bros TV through Doozer in May in conjunction with his appointment as new showrunner of Cougar Town for its upcoming fifth season. The setup is similar to Doozer’s script deal with Jeff Astrof, who took over Lawrence’s other TBS series, Ground Floor, as showrunner. It led to a comedy project,...
- 9/30/2013
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
The networks love auto/semi-autobiographical comedies and are stocking up on half-hours based on personal experiences this year. NBC has bought two such pitches, one from Enlisted co-executive producer Sanjay Shah and one from Legit co-executive producer Chris Case. Shah’s single-camera comedy, from Universal TV, follows two very different brothers and their immigrant parents all trying to run a fast-food franchise together in a sketchy Sacramento neighborhood. (Shah’s family owns a Burger King.) Shah, who worked on 1600 Penn and Cougar Town, is repped by UTA and Ken Richman. Chris Case‘s multi-camera comedy Maybe It’s Me is based on Case’s life as a father of two juggling three strong women – his current girlfriend, his work wife, and his ex-wife. “I realized that if most of the women in my life are upset with me most of the time, maybe it’s me,” he said. 20th Century...
- 9/28/2013
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
June Diane Raphael, Casey Wilson and Jonathan Groff have sold half-hour pilot pitch Dinks (Double Income, No Kids) to ABC through ABC Studios with a pilot production commitment. The project, which stems from the premium blind script deal Raphael and Wilson inked with ABC Studios last month, centers on a thirty-something couple (double-income, no kids) that straddles the line between life with kids and single life without them. Happy Endings showrunner Groff will executive produce through his overall deal at ABC Studios, reuniting with series co-star Wilson. Raphael, repped by UTA, Silver Lining and attorney Pj Shapiro, is attached to star as part of the holding deal she signed with ABC Studios in conjunction with the script pact. She currently stars on the Adult Swim series Ntsf. Wilson is repped by UTA, Odenkirk Provissiero and Shapiros. The duo wrote and starred in the film Ass Backwards which premiered at last...
- 9/12/2013
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
NBC has added three comedy projects to its slate for next season, untitled half-hours from Harris Wittels & Ali Rushfield and Dan Mazer (Borat) and Gifted from David Bickel (Kickin’ It). The untitled Harris Wittels project, from Universal TV and 3 Arts, is a family comedy about a well-meaning slacker who lives with his parents and is in a constant struggle with his family about how best to raise his younger brother, a multimillionaire high school entrepreneur. Wittels is writing with Rushfield supervising. The two executive produce with 3 Arts’ Dave Becky, Tom Lassally and Josh Lieberman. Wittels, who is under an overall deal at Uni TV, is repped by 3 Arts, CAA and Attorney Jared Levine; Rushfield, who also is writing a put pilot mother-daughter comedy for Fox, is repped at UTA. The Dan Mazer multi-camera project, from 20th TV, Tom Werner’s Good Humor TV and 3 Arts, is described as an adult relationship comedy.
- 8/13/2013
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Exclusive: Cougar Town writer-producer Blake McCormick has been elevated to showrunner of the ensemble comedy as it heads into its fifth season and second on TBS. McCormick replaces Ric Swartzlander, who ran Cougar Town last season. Additionally, McCormick has signed a blind script deal with Warner Bros TV through studio-based Doozer, the company of Cougar Town co-creator/executive producer Bill Lawrence. Lawrence exited Cougar Town after Season 3 to segue into his overall deal at Warner Bros TV but ended up being pretty hands-on during Season 4 since he didn’t have a series on the air. That likely won’t be the case next season as he has three pilots in contention for series pickup: Undateable at NBC, I Suck At Girls at Fox and Ground Floor at TBS. McCormick, repped by UTA, Kaplan Perrone and attorney Jared Levine, has been on Cougar Town for the past three seasons, starting out...
- 5/2/2013
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Chelsea Handler is backing another young female comedy performer trying to get her own series. ABC has put in development Discounted, a half-hour comedy executive produced by Handler that is co-written by and stars Fortune Feimster, a series regular and writer on Handler’s E! talk show Chelsea Lately. The project, produced by Universal TV and Handler and Tom Brunelle’s Borderline Amazing Prods, centers on half-sisters Julie and Missy (Feimster), who are trying desperately to keep their family’s furniture store afloat. They face multiple hurdles, including dealing with their misfit employees and competition from the giant Danish furniture store “Wüd.” But their biggest challenge will be figuring out their own “Odd Couple-esque” relationship. Feimster will co-write the script with Jim Freeman and Brian Jarvis; all three will co-executive produce. Mike Pennie (Raising Hope) will serve as showrunner and executive produce alongside Borderline Amazing’s Handler, Brunelle and Brad Wollack.
- 11/7/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Exclusive: The Office co-star Brian Baumgartner is staying in business with the series’ boss Greg Daniels. Daniels is executive producing a new new single-camera comedy to star the original Office cast member, which has landed at ABC. It will be written by Harris Wittels, supervising producer on Daniels’ other NBC series, Parks & Recreation. The untitled half-hour centers on Norman (Baumgartner), a mid-level airline executive fights to experience winning again… At anything. Universal TV and Daniels’ studio-based Deedle Dee Prods. are producing, with Wittels, Baumgartner, Deedle Dee’s Daniels and Tracy Katsky and 3 Arts’ Howard Klein, Dave Becky and Tom Lassally executive producing. Baumgartner, repped by Theodore B. Gekis & Daniel Ribera, and attorney Matthew C. Thompson, plays Dunder Mifflin Paper accountant Kevin Malone on NBC’s The Office where he has been since the pilot. For Wittels, repped by CAA, 3 Arts and attorney Jared Levine, the project stems from the overall...
- 10/26/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Bad Teacher, a single-camera comedy series adaptation of the hit 2011 movie to be penned by Hilary Winston (Happy Endings, Community) and produced by the film’s writers-producers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg, has been set up at CBS. The movie, from Columbia Pictures and Mosaic, starred Cameron Diaz as a foul-mouthed, gold-digging junior high school teacher. The TV adaptation is being produced by Sony Pictures TV, where Winston is under a deal, Mosaic and Stupnitsky and Eisenberg’s Quantity Entertainment. Winston, Stupnitsky and Eisenberg executive produce, with Winston set to showrun. Winston, repped by UTA, Mosaic and Jared Levine, just sold another comedy project to NBC with penalty. Titled Girls On Film, the show is about three college best friends, who all find themselves single at 30 but with very different levels of dating experience. Winston is writing/executive producing for Sony TV and Jamie Tarses’ Fanfare. It has been a...
- 10/6/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
The lives of two young couples are the subjects of two comedy projects set up at Fox. One is an untitled half-hour from writers Michael Colton, John Aboud and Sony Pictures Television, the other, Adultish, hails from writers Dan Gregor and Doug Mand (How I Met Your Mother), Imagine TV and 20th Century Fox TV. The Colton/Aboud project centers on a couple that has their peaceful Brooklyn existence turned upside down when the wife’s Uruguayan parents move in to help take care of their kids. The project is inspired by Colton’s relationship with his Uruguayan in-laws, and the language and cultural barriers that keep them at odds. He previously wrote a comedic piece in the New York Times Magazine about how the language barrier between him and his father-in-law ruined his marriage proposal to his wife. Colton and Aboud will write the script and will executive produce...
- 10/1/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Iron Man director Jon Favreau is set to executive produce a single-camera comedy written and executive produced by The Office co-executive producers Warren Lieberstein and Halsted Sullivan. The untitled project, produced by Universal TV, centers on a divorced father with shared custody of his 5-year-old daughter who moves into a building full of singles and must balance his re-entry into the dating world with being a solo parent. Favreau, repped by CAA, Shepard & Associates and Bob Getman, also has a relationship with NBC having directed the pilot for the network’s high-profile new drama Revolution. Lieberstein and Sullivan are with CAA and Jared Levine. Also in the comedy hopper at NBC is a project from writer Jamie Rhonheimer (How I Met Your Mother), Universal TV and Karey Burke and Todd Holland’s studio-based Dark Toy Entertainment. Based on the 1998 short story Faith by About A Boy author Nick Hornby, the...
- 9/7/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Exclusive: On the heels of landing its first series order in May with comedy Guys With Kids, Jimmy Fallon’s Universal TV-based company Holiday Road has set up three projects for next season: single-camera comedy Slammed and untitled multi-camera Hipster project at NBC and hour-long drama Bad Seeds at Fox. Fallon will serve as an executive producer on all three, along with producing partner Amy Ozols. Slammed is penned by Apa-repped Jon Rineman, senior monologue writer for NBC’s Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. It is a workplace comedy set in the world of professional wrestling. The Untitled Hipster Project was created by former Daily Show With Jon Stewart showrunner Josh Lieb and actor/comedian/musician Nick Thune who will write together. Lieb will executive produce; Thune will co-executive produce with an eye to star in the project, which centers on a decidedly un-hip anthropology student finds himself living with – and studying – the wild,...
- 9/4/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Exclusive: Writer-comedian Harris Wittels has signed a two-year overall deal with Universal TV. Under the pact, he will be upped to supervising producer on the studio’s NBC comedy series Parks & Recreation, on which he has been since Season 1, working as a writer and occasional guest star playing Harris, the Animal Control guy, in a handful of episodes. Additionally, Wittels will develop new projects for the studio, with 3 Arts attached to produce. Wittels, who got his break as a writer when Sarah Silverman saw him perform standup in 2006 and gave him a writing job on her Comedy Central series, has several projects in the works. He is writing a comedy for HBO with Scott Rudin and Mike White producing, co-writing with Armen Weitzmana a feature for Rudin and writing another feature, Big Time, at Universal with Aziz Ansari attached to star. Additionally, Wittels, repped by CAA, 3 Arts and attorney Jared Levine,...
- 6/12/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Exclusive: Comedy writer Hilary Winston has signed a new two-year overall deal at Sony Pictures TV. This is Winston’s third consecutive overall pact at Sony TV where she has been based for the past four years, working as a co-executive producer on the studio’s comedy series Community and Happy Endings. This development season Winston has a half-hour pilot, Happy Valley, aka untitled Hilary Winston project, in contention at NBC. Winston segued to Sony after getting her break on NBC/20th TV’s My Name Is Earl, which she joined right after the pilot and stayed on for the comedy’s entire four-season run. On the feature side, Winston is adapting her book My Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me, which is coming out in paperback in May, for Paramount, with Lorne Michaels producing. Winston is with UTA and attorney Jared Levine.
- 4/23/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Exclusive: Writer-producer-actor Nick Bakay had been at Verve and now will be repped by Apa in all areas. He wrote the Kevin James movies Zookeeper and Paul Blart: Mall Cop and just finished penning Valet Guys, which James and Adam Sandler will star in for Sony. On TV, Bakay was a consulting producer on the James-starring King Of Queens, and he recently sold a pilot to Fox as part of a development deal with Happy Madison and Sony TV. In addition to a bunch of acting and voice-over work (he was the cat on Sabrina The Teenage Witch), Bakay moonlights as a sports columnist at NFL.com and contributes to Espn.com and Espn The Magazine. He continues to be repped by Jared Levine of Barnes, Morris, Klein, Yorn, Barnes & Levine. (Photo: Getty Images) ...
- 3/15/2012
- by THE DEADLINE TEAM
- Deadline TV
Exclusive: Veteran comedy writer-producer Victor Fresco, creator of such cult favorites as Fox’s Andy Richer Controls The Universe and ABC’s Better Off Ted, has sighed an overall deal with Universal Television. The two-year pact, which starts in June, represents one of the first major talent signings for Universal Television since the NBC-affiliated studio was re-established as a full-fledged entity supplying all networks last summer and Bela Bajaria was appointed to run it under NBC topper Bob Greenblatt. “Victor Fresco has a sharp comedic point of view and is well-regarded by talent and networks alike,” Bajaria said. “We are excited to make this new home for Victor.” Fresco will move to NBC after 5 years at ABC Studios. There he created and executive produced Better Off Ted, which ran on ABC for 2 seasons, and most recently served as a showrunner on freshman ABC comedy Man Up. Before ABC Studios, Fresco,...
- 2/24/2012
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Exclusive: The Office writer-producer Justin Spitzer has signed a two-year overall deal with the studio behind the NBC comedy, Universal Media Studios. Under the seven-figure deal, Spitzer's first, he will continue on The Office while also developing new series projects. Spitzer's only previous stab at development was selling a comedy spec to ABC six years ago. Spitzer's career path so far has been determined by two spec scripts. A Scrubs spec he wrote got to the show's creator/executive producer Bill Lawrence eight years ago and became his first produced script. Then the spec he sold to ABC got in the hands of The Office executive producer Greg Daniels who, based on it, hired Spitzer on The Office at the beginning of Season 3. Spitzer has gone through the ranks and is being upped to a co-executive producer for next season. On the development side, Spitzer, repped by ICM and attorney Jared Levine,...
- 8/12/2011
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
Chase creator/executive producer Jennifer Johnson has joined ABC's drama pilot Georgetown as executive producer/showrunner. Written by Will Fetters, Georgetown, from Warner Bros and Fake Empire, is an ensemble drama about young Capitol Hill staffers starring Jimmy Wolk. Johnson, repped by Wme and attorney Matt Johnson, will exec produce alongside Fetters, Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage and Len Goldstein. Mark Piznarski is directing. Greg Plageman (Cold Case) is set as executive producer/showrunner of CBS' drama pilot Person of Interest. The Wbtv/Bad Robot project, written by Jonah Nolan, stars Jim Caviezel as an ex-cia agent, presumed dead, who teams up with a reclusive billionaire (Michael Emerson), to prevent violent crimes in New York City. Plageman, repped by Wme and attorney Jared Levine, serves as an exec producer with Nolan, J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk. David Semel is directing. Both Johnson and Plageman are under overall deals at Wbtv and...
- 4/4/2011
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
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