‘Carnival Row’ Showrunner Erik Oleson Launches CrimeThink Production Company With Paul Shapiro As Head Of Content

Peter White
·2 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Erik Oleson, showrunner of the second season of Amazon’s Carnival Row, is launching his own production company.

Oleson has launched CrimeThink, which will be based at Amazon Studios, where Oleson is currently under an exclusive three-year overall deal.

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He will be joined at the company by Paul Shapiro as Head of Content. Shapiro recently left RKO Pictures, where he was President, and he previously launched the television division at Stampede Ventures, was Head of Scripted Programming at Syfy, where he developed series such as 12 Monkeys and The Expanse.

He will be joined by Lauren Rovere, who will serve as the company’s Coordinator.

In addition to showrunning season two of Carnival Row, Oleson is developing a TV series based on GI Joe’s Lady Jaye for Amazon. It comes from Paramount Television Studios, eOne and Skydance Television.

He was also showrunner and exec producer on the third season of Marvel’s Daredevil and exec producer of the second season of Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle.

The company is looking to develop high-concept dramas and franchises for Oleson to showrun and is also building a creative incubator for fellow storytellers with unique voices that they can mentor into future showrunners.

“For us, whether a show is an original genre mash-up or an epic based off major I-P, it’s the core ideas a show explores that matter most,” said Oleson. “Paul is the perfect fit to help build CrimeThink. Along with an impressive track record, great taste and a great reputation, we share a vision for the company. We want our stories to be both addictively entertaining while also having something meaningful to say.”

“I couldn’t be more excited to work with Erik and help build his company,” said Shapiro. “He is an extremely creative and collaborative showrunner with an ‘Orwelian’ vision that he applies to everything he does, challenging audience expectations and popular ideas. It’s the core of CrimeThink’s philosophy and clearly evident in the work he’s done. Our partnership with Amazon Studios makes CrimeThink a one-stop shop for shepherding world-building ideas for a global audience.”

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