Disney-owned ABC Signature has appointed its EVP of creative affairs, Tracy Underwood, as president, following the exit of Jonnie Davis earlier this year. In her new role, Underwood will oversee all creative affairs, including the studio’s development of drama, comedy and limited series, as well as the current series slate. She will report to Eric […]
Amazon exit & orders CJ Yu has exited as head of unscripted development, global formats, at Amazon Studios, after six years with the company. Yu was responsible for the international launch of formats including All Or Nothing and LOL: Last One Laughing. He originally joined as a senior creative development and programming exec in 2017, […]
Jonnie Davis is stepping down as president of Disney-owned ABC Signature. Davis took on his current role in 2019, after moving to ABC Signature from 20th Television, where he had served as president of creative affairs, following Disney’s $71.3bn acquisition of Fox assets. His departure was revealed in two memos to staff, one from Davis […]
Disney has begun laying off staff as part of its “strategic realignment”, with production operations across Disney TV Studios, Hulu, FX and Freeform now falling under Carol Turner and the creative acquisitions division closed. Hulu’s SVP of production, Mark Levenstein, and Freeform’s SVP of production management & operations, Jayne Bieber, are among the casualties as […]
ABC Signature has upped Sydnee Rimes to become SVP of series. She will now lead ABC Signature’s series division, with a remit across all current shows including drama, comedy and limited run. Rimes previously had stints at Brillstein Entertainment before joining ABC more than a decade ago. She was most recently VP of series at […]
Disney’s US network ABC has picked up a full 22-part season of Entertainment One’s The Rookie: Feds. The show is a spin-off from ABC’s five-season drama The Rookie and is based on an episode – named Feds – that ran in the original show last year. The Rookie: Feds then debuted on 27 September and […]
Disney-owned ABC Signature has acquired English-language adaptation rights to TF1 detective series HIP (High Intellectual Potential), following a deal with distributor Newen Connect. Work has begun on adapting the scripts of the French scripted series, with the showrunner, writing team and cast still to be announced. The US version joins upcoming Czech and Slovakian adaptations, […]
Disney streamer Hulu has ordered two new original drama series – including an adaptation of Devil In The White City, produced by Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, with Keanu Reeves attached to star in his first major TV role. John Wick franchise star Reeves will both take the lead role and exec produce Devil In […]
Stephanie Leifer, EVP and head of current programming at ABC Signature, and one of Disney-owned ABC’s longest-serving execs, is exiting the company after almost three decades. Leifer has held her current position since 2010, overseeing current series for ABC Signature and its predecessor ABC Studios, including shows such as Grey’s Anatomy at ABC and The […]
Disney-owned ABC Signature has named former Paramount+ exec Danny Feldheim as its new SVP of comedy development. Feldheim replaces Melanie Frankel, who stepped down as head of comedy last year, and will lead the genre for the studio, which is behind Hulu’s This Fool, Freeform’s Everything’s Trash and Disney+ show The Muppets Mayhem. He was […]
