Rom-com kings (and "Shaun of the Dead" producer) Working Title are expanding their TV business, partnering with NBC Universal International to launch a small screen division.
Ex-NBC U development executive Shelley McCrory has been tapped to run the unit. She’ll report to WT’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner. The unit will be based in both London and LA.
McCrory’s staff will include former BBC and Film 4 exec Juliette Howell, who will head up UK development and production and will work from London.
NBC U will distribute WTTV shows both domestically and internationally. WTTV, as the parties are calling it, is already at work on the previously announced pilot "Love Bites" for NBC.
"We’ve had our sights set on television for some time because creating dramas, comedies and episodic programming for an international audience is an obvious extension of what we do," Bevan said. "For us, it was about finding the right executive to help us maximise the potential of the talent we’ve worked with on our films and migrate that into TV. Shelley has a terrific track record and we’re delighted to have her on board.”
McCrory called WT "an exceptionally classy and sophisticated company" and said she was "honored" — or, as the press release put it, "honoured" — to work with Bevan and Fellner.
Then, not believing how cool her new job was, McCrory exclaimed in her best Hugh Grant accent: "Fuck. Fuck. Fuckity fuck!"
