Love & Money Dept – TV Writing Deals for 4/28/14

Latest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are
by munchman

  • David Manson (HOUSE OF CARDS) has a new overall deal with FG Productions, where’s going to do the usual developing and stuff. (Word is that the company is absolutely bonkers in love with his FX drama pilot HOKE, so this is a pre-emptive move to keep our hero – no relation to either Marilyn or Charlie Manson as far as we know – in the fold before he gets way too hot for their budget. Munchy congrats, Davey!)
  • Jason Aaron (Scalped graphic novel series) has sold that very series to WGN, which is developing it into a TV series for WGN America. (There’s an insider word here too: Jason’s a Prairie Village, Kansas resident who, we understand, is now going to storm the big city. That’s right, he’s coming to – wait for it – Wichita! Congrats on the deal and the new address, Jase!)
  • The latest news about Chris Albrecht who, okay, isn’t a writer but certainly has made a bunch of ’em rich as CEO of HBO and, now, Starz, puts the writing deals we talk about her into perspective: Dude may indeed have contributed to the wealth of all kinds of talented wordsmiths, but he himself personally made over $30 million last year just by, well, musing around, it seems to Yer Friendly Neighborhood munchman. Muse me, Chrissy baby! Muse me!)

Starz CEO Chris Albrecht Plans More Original Programming

Chris Albrecht re Starz Originals Capture

Here’s the skinny about Starz upcoming original TV programming plans from the man who knows ’em best cuz they were created right there in his incubator-like cranium. Gather ’round, gang, to see and hear The Word from the only network executive our BLLB himself respects. (Well, except for that beating up on his girlfriend business that went down awhile ago. But, hey, what’s past is past, right?)

Oops! We can’t embed this recording so you’ll have to CLICK HERE

Starz CEO Looking for New Projects

Hey, we aren’t making this up. Chris Albrecht is all gung-ho about his network, and not only does he want and expect the best, he’s the most thoughtful, creative executive in the medium. (That one’s per our BL, LB, and who are we to argue?)

So don’t just sit there, call your agents!

Starz Prepares To Develop A Comedy But Will “Tread Cautiously”
by David Lieberman

The project to be announced “soon” will be the first half-hour sitcom developed by Starz since CEO Chris Albrecht took charge in 2010, he told analysts today. (Earlier Starz had comedies includingHead CaseParty Down, and Gravity.) But it doesn’t represent a shift from his focus on dramas. read article

LB: One TV Executive Who Really Knows What He’s Doing

by Larry Brody

…Is Chris Albrecht of Starz.

Yes, he’s had some funky personal problems, but all my dealings with Chris have been professional and positive. In everything we’ve done together, he has shown himself to be a man of great taste, which is all I think we should expect from a guy sitting in big room in a tall building looking down at the city and giving notes.

Which means I’m interested in everything Chris has to say, including this: read article