Imagine Entertainment and The Washington Post Set First-Look Deal for Film and TV

The Washington Post has entered into a first-look deal with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment to create scripted and non-scripted film and TV projects.

The projects will be based on stories within the legacy newspaper’s vast archives, current reporting and ongoing investigations. Imagine will have an exclusive first-look to develop and produce all projects through the venture.

Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which represents both entities, brokered the deal and will help expand The Post’s storytelling opportunities with Imagine across multiple formats.

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Washington Post publisher and CEO Fred Ryan will oversee the deal with Imagine Entertainment executive chairman Brian Grazer and chief strategy officer Justin Wilkes.

“At The Post, we’re storytellers at heart. Whether it’s holding the powerful to account or shedding light on an exceptionally compelling narrative, we see tremendous untapped potential for extending the reach of our journalism,” Ryan said in a statement. “Partnering with Imagine, a leader in the entertainment industry, and the talented team at CAA, we look forward to connecting global audiences with essential and riveting Post reporting.”

“The reporting of the truth is one of the hallmarks of our democracy and nowhere is that pursuit more evident than within the pages of the Washington Post,” Grazer said. “To have access to the world-class journalism and deep investigative reporting from Watergate to the recent conflict in Ukraine is a filmmaker’s dream. We’re honored to partner with the Post across all storytelling verticals within Imagine.”

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“The Washington Post is a world-class news organization whose elite journalists and editors are devoted to chronicling the stories of our times,” Bryan Lourd, co-chairman of CAA, said in a statement. “To be working with The Post and have our longtime client Imagine as the pristine engine to extend their imprint is the meeting of two brands that align perfectly.”

Imagine previously acquired Jax Media and Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions, the latter of which is a documentary production company that has collaborated with the Post. In 2020, Imagine also formed a multi-year strategic partnership with Warner Music Group (WMG), to co-produce and co-finance a slate of music-centered projects across all mediums.

The Washington Post recently picked up a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Deadline first reported the news.

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