Adam McKay Sets Jeffrey Epstein Limited Series Under First-Look Deal With HBO, Launches New Company

Nellie Andreeva

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Succession executive producer Adam McKay is expanding his relationship with the network and studio behind the buzzy drama series. The Oscar winner has launched a new company, Hyperobject Industries, which has closed a five-year, first-look television deal with HBO, to develop content for HBO and streaming sibling HBO Max.

Joining McKay as a partner in Hyperobject Industries is his long-time producer Kevin Messick as the company has set up its first project under the new deal — a limited series based on Miami Herald investigative reporter Julie K. Brown’s upcoming book about Jeffrey Epstein, which will be developed by HBO Films.

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This is probably the highest-profile among a number of TV series projects about the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender shopped following his arrest and subsequent death this past summer.

Brown’s reporting has been praised for sparking renewed interest in the Epstein case and was a driving force behind the multimillionaire financier’s arrest this past July on sex trafficking charges. McKay and Messick will executive produce alongside Brown, with McKay attached to direct the pilot.

McKay directed the pilot for Succession, winning a DGA Award for his work. He also shared in the series’ best drama series Emmy nomination for the series, created/executive produced by Jesse Armstrong.

HBO and McKay also are also currently working on drama pilot Showtime based on Jeff Pearlman’s non-fiction book ‘Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s’. McKay and Messick serve as executive producers on the limited series alongside writer/showrunner Max Borenstein, with McKay directing the pilot. John C. Reilly, Jason Clarke, Quincy Isaiah and Solomon Hughes star in the pilot, which wrapped production earlier this month.

“We are delighted to continue our longtime collaboration with Adam McKay with this new deal,” said Casey Bloys, HBO programming president. “Adam is a uniquely talented director and producer, and we are looking forward to working with him and the team at Hyperobject on many projects to come.

McKay is launching Hyperobject Industries after parting ways earlier this year with his longtime collaborator Will Ferrell with whom he had been partnered at Gary Sanchez Prods. The two won an Emmy last month for executive producing ABC’s Live In Front of Studio Audience. At HBO, through Gary Sanchez Prods, McKay executive produced series Eastbound & Down and FOD Presents.

“We’ve worked with Casey Bloys, Francesca Orsi, Len Amato and the team at HBO for years on shows like Eastbound & Down, FOD Presents and Succession,” McKay said. “They’re fearless, extremely clued in and know how to frame and present a show like no one else.”

Messick, along with McKay received Academy Award, Golden Globe and PGA nominations for McKay’s most recent feature, Vice. Over the past ten years, Messick produced or executive produced over a dozen films with McKay at Gary Sanchez Productions, including The Big Short, which earned McKay an Oscar for writing, and The Other Guys, and serves as an executive producer on Succession.

Hyperobject Industries has hired Todd Schulman to help oversee the TV deal with HBO/HBO Max. Prior to joining McKay, Schulman served as an executive producer of Who Is America? and a producer on the upcoming 2020 romantic comedy The Lovebirds, starring Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae. Previously, he worked with Sacha Baron Cohen on Borat, Bruno and The Dictator. In addition, Betsy Koch will continue to work with McKay at the new company as a producer across both TV and film projects.

McKay and Hyperobject Industries will operate in different genres across film and television, including comedies, dramas, horror, documentaries and docu-series as well as politically charged and challenging subjects that McKay and his team are committed to making engaging and commercially viable. In support of the WGA, no Hyperobject Industries project will be part of any packaging deals through WME, who represents McKay as a director and producer.

The rest of the Hyperobject Industries team comprises executive producer Robyn Wholey (Vice), creative exec Maeve Cullinane, associate producer Staci Roberts-Steele as well as Jenna Go, Stephanie Chopra and Daniel Omaits.

McKay is repped by WME and Ziffren Brittenham.

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