Steve Buscemi, Stanley Tucci & Wren Arthur’s Olive Productions Inks First Look Deal With Entertainment One
Steve Buscemi, Stanley Tucci and Wren Arthur’s New York-based Olive Productions has signed a multi-year overall television first-look deal with global indie Entertainment One.
Under the deal, eOne will serve as the studio and control worldwide rights to television projects produced out of the new pact.
“As producers, Steve and Stanley have an unparalleled sense for finding standout characters and bringing them to the screen,” said eOne TV’s President of Global Scripted Programming Pancho Mansfield. “We’re thrilled to be working with them and their brilliant partner Wren as we continue in our strategy to share great stories with the world.”
Speaking to Deadline at eOne’s annual drama preview event in London, Mansfield added that Olive Productions’ range of content coupled with the co-founders taste and experience was the huge driver for the pact. “Olive has a range of content. There’s one-hour shows, drama content and also Steve is known for directing comedy. We like the range. We liked the New York-based element to it and the access it might give us to playwrights and we were looking for a pod that had that at the center of what they were doing.”
“Having a New York production base checked another box for us,” added eOne TV CEO John Morayniss.
In a statement, Arthur said: “We’re excited to be in business with John Morayniss, Pancho Mansfield and the team at eOne. We’ve found a globally-minded studio partner that shares in our commitment to bold, strong, irreverent characters. We look forward to reaching audiences around the globe through stories that matter.”
Buscemi and Tucci added: “EOne really get what we are about and are perfectly aligned with our sensibilities.”
The deal was spearheaded by Carolyn Newman, VP, Scripted Programming, eOne Television.
The partnership marks another coup for eOne TV, which has been expanding its growing slate of first-look deals and creative talent since its inception in 2008. The company’s got an exclusive international output partnership for scripted content with AMC and the Sundance Channel, a majority stake in David Garfinkle and Jay Renfroe’s unscripted production company Renegade 83 and has partnered with Mark Gordon’s company for financing and producing film and TV content.
Olive Productions is currently prepping New York-based feature Puzzle, by Annie Baker and Oren Moverman. Recent projects include Final Portrait, written and directed by Stanley Tucci and starring Geoffrey Rush and Armie Hammer, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this month; Amber Tamblyn’s directorial debut set to be released in May by Imagination; Paint It Black, starring Janet Mcteer and Alia Shawkat; and Check It, a doc about an African-American gay street gang directed by Toby Oppenheimer and Dana Flor.
Olive Productions and Arthur are repped by WME. Buscemi is repped by WME and The Gotham Group. Tucci is repped by CAA and Anonymous Content.
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