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EXCLUSIVE: Four years aft its launch, Artists Equity is expanding into scripted television. The artist-led indie studio, founded by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Gerry Cardinale, is starting a scripted TV section and has appointed erstwhile UCP executive Griffin Zucosky to lead it.
As SVP of Television nether Amy Baer, Artists Equity’s President of Film and Television, Zucosky will oversee nan improvement and accumulation of ongoing and constricted series. He will activity alongside Kyle Wheeler, Head of Unscripted crossed some movie and television.
Artists Equity intends to use its talent-friendly business model, presently utilized successful movie — and manifested successful nan sanction of nan institution — to scripted bid too.
It is simply a type of nan classical tv backend template wherever talent gets an ownership liking successful a bid and is rewarded successful success. That profit information exemplary has mostly been wiped retired successful nan streaming era, replaced by nan cost-plus setup, though performances bonuses person been making a comeback.
Artists Equity will apt person to forge agreements pinch streamers successful nan mold of nan 1 it made pinch Netflix for The Rip to accomodate its talent ownership-based fund structure. It led to bonuses for nan movie’s formed and crew pursuing its occurrence connected nan world platform.
The TV section will beryllium independent astatine this time; it will not beryllium portion of Artists Equity’s first-look woody pinch Netflix, which covers film.
Artists Equity plans to widen to tv nan writers’ room programme it launched earlier this year for improvement of characteristic screenplays. It would beryllium utilized to incubate original bid ideas that would past beryllium packaged and sold.
“Finding nan correct personification to spearhead our description into tv was essential, and Griffin brings precisely nan experience, imaginative instincts, and entrepreneurial power we were looking for,” Baer said. “We’re building a tv slate that reflects nan aforesaid ambition we’ve brought to our films, and bringing Griffin connected is simply a awesome first measurement toward what Artists Equity Television tin be.”
Until UCP’s merger pinch Universal Television past month, Zucosky served arsenic Director of Development astatine nan streaming-focused section of Universal Studios Group. He oversaw shows for illustration The ‘Burbs and Devil successful Disguise: John Wayne Gacy and covered UCP’s wide deals pinch Seth McFarlane’s Fuzzy Door, Patrick MacManus’s Littleton Road Productions, and Sue Naegle’s Dinner Party. Prior to UCP, Zucosky worked successful improvement astatine accumulation companies including Red Wagon, Maniac Productions, and Relativity, moving connected shows for illustration Ginny & Georgia and StartUp.
The move brings Affleck and Damon backmost successful nan scripted bid arena wherever they person only ventured a mates of times pinch their erstwhile companies, astir notably producing ABC’s Push, Nevada and Showtime’s City connected a Hill.
In summation to The Rip, Artists Equity’s movie slate includes The Accountant 2, Doug Liman’s The Instigators, nan Cillian Murphy-led Small Things Like These, William Goldenberg’s Unstoppable, and Air, directed by and starring Affleck. The studio’s nonfiction films see The Merchants of Joy, The Python Hunt, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, Kiss nan Future and Believers: Boston Red Sox.
