Bicoastal Partizan has signed director Dominic Murphy…. Ritts/Hayden, Los Angeles, has added director Daniel Kleinman for stateside representation….Stephanie Apt, former director of broadcast production at J. Walter Thompson, New York, has been named managing director for the soon-to-be-launched New York office of London-based post house Final Cut….Homestead Editorial, New York, has added editor Chris Hellman to its stable. Hellman was previously with Crew Cuts, New York….Director Gary Lankford has departed New York-based Creative Film Management International and has formed his own New York-shop, Lankford Films, in association with bicoastal and Toronto-based Johnson/Burnett Productions. Lankford continues to maintain his longtime Houston-based production house, Times 3 Productions, for Texas projects….Composer Byron Brizuela has been named creative director for the new Latin division of Los Angeles-based music and sound design house Groove Addicts….Charlie Willis has launched design/consulting firm Actual Reality, Atlanta. Willis has worked in numerous shops in Atlanta including Cinetron, Crawford Post Production, DESIGNefx and Magick Lantern….Karen Constine has been appointed director of the California Film Commission by Gov. Gray Davis (D-CA). Constine assumes a post that had been vacant for nearly a year, following the departure of Patti Stolkin Archuletta, an appointee of former Gov. Pete Wilson (R-CA). Constine has a political/public affairs background and formerly served as an aide to Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick (D-Woodland Hills)….
HBO Inks Two-Year First-Look Deal With Sharon Horgan and Her Production Company Merman
HBO has signed a two-year first-look television deal with BAFTA-winning and Emmy®-nominated actor, writer, and producer Sharon Horgan (“Bad Sisters,” “Catastrophe”) and her multi award-winning production company Merman. HBO has also given a straight-to-series order for a new original comedy series, the first project under this deal, from Horgan and produced by Merman, with Horgan serving as writer, star, and executive producer.
This comedy series follows a 50-year-old divorcee’s search for sex and love while juggling caring for her ailing parents and parenting her should-be grown up son.
Amy Gravitt, executive VP, HBO & Max Comedy Programming, said, “We’re thrilled to be reunited with Sharon. Her willingness to offer up her own experiences through the characters she creates makes us all feel a little less lonely, that is what sets her comedy apart so brilliantly. She also has such a sharp eye for material and a strong desire to shepherd other people’s stories, we’re looking forward to the new talent she will bring into the fold.”
Horgan said, “I’m so happy to once again be working with Casey [Bloys], Amy, Francesca [Orsi] and the team at HBO, and really excited that Merman get to continue to tell stories for a company that’s been home to some of the most iconic television shows ever created.”
Horgan has created and starred in such series as “Pulling,” “Catastrophe,” “Motherland,” “Amandaland” and BAFTA and Peabody winning series “Bad Sisters,” which recently released its second season. She received Emmy® nominations for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (“Catastrophe”), Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (“Bad... Read More