‘Mixed-Ish’ Showrunner Karin Gist Inks New Overall Deal With 20th Century Fox TV, Starts Production Company

Nellie Andreeva
·4 min read

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Mixed-ish showrunner Karin Gist has re-upped her overall deal with 20th Century Fox TV. As part of the new pact, she has launched a production banner, The Gist Of It, with Claire Brown as her EVP of Production and Development, and will create and supervise/develop new projects with the studio, part of Disney Television Studios.

In the first major talent synergy act among divisions of Disney TV Studios, Gist in May was loaned out by 20th TV to sibling ABC Studios to become executive producer and showrunner of that studio’s new ABC comedy series Mixed-ish, a prequel to the network’s hit Black-ish.

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As part of the new 20th TV overall deal, The Gist Of It is working on East Nasty, a Nashville-set country music drama from writer Jamie Rosengard, which is in development at Freeform, with Gist and Brown exec producing. The show takes its name from the real-life community of East Nashville, where a vibrant, anti-establishment music scene is pushing to redefine what country music looks and sounds like. East Nasty follows two best friends – one a black, queer singer-songwriter and the other a seemingly tailor-made country musician from a deeply religious family – struggling alongside other musical misfits for a place at the table.

Additionally, Gist is working on Our Kind Of People, alongside Lee Daniels Entertainment and Propagate Content. Gist is writing the project, which is in off-cycle redevelopment at Fox after being originally set up at the network last season. Inspired by Lawrence Otis Graham’s book Our Kind Of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class, the show centers on single mom Angela Vaughn, who goes back to her roots in Oak Bluffs after her mother passes away to rent a pop-up shop for her natural hair-care line and gain acceptance into the elite black community. But she soon learns that this powerful group and city holds a long held family secret that just might change her position and shake up this community forever.

“Karin is a rock star creator and showrunner who gives every project her whole heart, and when she told us she wanted to form The Gist Of It with Claire and expand her development efforts even further, we couldn’t get the words ‘yes please’ out quickly enough,” said Carolyn Cassidy, 20th Century Fox TV President of Creative Affairs. “She’s a spectacular talent and huge asset to 20th.”

Gist currently serves as showrunner and executive producer of Mixed-ish starring Arica Himmell, Tika Sumpter, Gary Cole, Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Tracee Ellis Ross. Her work on the series earned her a 2020 NAACP Image Award nomination alongside Peter Saji for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series.

Previously, Gist served as executive producer and showrunner of Fox’s Star for seasons 2 and 3 Before that, she was a co-executive producer on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy from 2015-2017. Additional writing and producing credits include WB/CW’s One Tree Hill, Showtime’s House of Lies and ABC’s Revenge. Her film writing credits include Disney’s Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2, Jump In and VH1’s Drumline: A New Beat.

Brown has produced over 340 episodes of television, several feature films and created Google’s first ever digital series, GodComplX. She served as executive producer on top-rated shows such as Being Mary Jane, The Game and Girlfriends.

“My hope is for The Gist Of It to be a home for honest, grounded, character driven stories and to make room at the table for diverse writers to continue to kick down the door,” Brown said.

Gist is repped by 3 Arts Entertainment and McKuin Frankel Whitehead.

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