A Band Apart Commercials, Los Angeles, has filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court against director Nico Beyer, alleging breach of contract. As earlier reported, Beyer’s U.S. representation had been the subject of a dispute between A Band Apart and New York-based Compass Films (SHOOT, 10/1/99, p. 1)….Word is that director Geoff McGann is headed to bicoastal M-80….Joe Sicurella of Sicurella & Associates, New York, and Adam Joseph of ear to the ave., New York, have merged to form music and sound design company Face the Music. The bicoastal shop opens with composer Paul Robb and executive producer Birgit Roberts….Michael Elliot, editor/owner of bicoastal Mad River Post, is relocating from the West Coast to the New York office of the company….Milk & Honey Films, which provides spot production services through its offices in Los Angeles, Prague, Mexico City, Toronto, Montreal, Moscow and London, has garnered its first TV movie and miniseries. The former, Operation Sandman, was completed by Milk & Honey’s Mexico City operation for Paramount Network Television and Singer White Productions. It is slated to air on UPN. And Milk & Honey’s Prague division has begun production services on a miniseries for the Sci-Fi Channel, Frank Herbert’s Dune…. Congrats to Jim Evans, executive producer at Gas. Food & Lodging, Culver City, Calif., whose wife gave birth on Nov. 19 to James Christian Evans….
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