Chicago-based post house Optimus has inked a deal to buy offline editorial shop Edit Sweet, Chicago. Plans call for Edit Sweet staffers—including partner/editor Jan Maitland, editors Katie Wrobel, Craig Lewandowski, Tim Kloehn and Steve Mach—to work out of the Optimus facility. Optimus president Tom Duff related that his company intends to launch a Santa Monica-based operation to be headed by Edit Sweet partner/editor Jim Staskauskas, who is slated to move to Southern California.….. Backyard Productions, the Venice, Calif.-headquartered production house headed by founders, executive producer Blair Stribley and head of sales Roy Skillicorn, has launched Transistor Studios, a new media group under the aegis of digital producer Damon Meena and creative director Jared Plummer. The new venture will specialize in creating design-oriented Web sites, DVDs, motion graphics and interactive online experiences….Director David Emery has joined bicoastal Treat for spot representation….ARF & Co., Hoboken, N.J., has signed director Ross Whitaker…cccp ny has added director Paul Riccio to its roster…. Los Angeles-based animation house Duck Soup Studios has signed Evil Cat Land, a directing team consisting of Walter Santucci, Pete Doan, Seth Strong and Layron DeJarnette. The directorial ensemble is named after the Evil Cat character, star of several Santucci-directed underground films which toured internationally as part of Spike and Mike’s Sick and Twisted Festival…. Director Cadmo Quintero has joined Metro Pictures, Marina del Rey, Calif….Flame artist Joe Wenkoff has come on board Red Car New York…..Marty Orzio, a co-executive creative director at Merkley Newmam Harty & Partners, New York, on the Mercedes-Benz account has left the agency to pursue other options. His duties will be assumed by Randy Saitta and Andy Hirsch, co-executive creative directors on the Mercedes business…. Minneapolis-headquartered agency Fallon is expanding globally. The shop is set to open offices in São Paulo, Brazil, Singapore and Hong Kong. The agency also has offices in New York and London…. San Rafael, Calif.-based Autodesk has finalized its deal to acquire Media 100’s software product line for $16 million cash. The streaming media software solutions from Media 100 figure to enhance the content creation product portfolio of Autodesk’s Montreal-headquartered division Discreet, meaning that Discreet customers will be able to create, distribute, re-purpose and publish media content for consumption via the Internet, corporate Intranets and IP-enabled devices such as cell phones and PDAs…..
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