Artists Equity will expand into scripted television, launching a new division led by Universal TV alum Griffin Zucosky as senior vice president.
The new division will fall under president of film and TV Amy Baer’s leadership, where Zucosky will supervise development and production of both limited and ongoing series.
“Finding the right person to spearhead our expansion into television was essential, and Griffin brings exactly the experience, creative instincts and entrepreneurial energy we were looking for,” Baer said. “We’re building a television slate that reflects the same ambition we’ve brought to our films, and bringing Griffin on is a major first step toward what Artists Equity Television can be.”
The TV division will be independent of Artists Equity’s first-look deal with Netflix, which covers film.
In the four years since its launch, the studio has primarily been focused on film, producing scripted films including “The Rip,” “The Accountant 2,” “Air” and “The Instigators.” Artists Equity also produced nonfiction films “The Merchants of Joy,” “The Python Hunt” and “The Greatest Love Story Never Told.”
Zucosky most recently served as director of development at Universal Content Productions, overseeing production for Peacock’s “The ‘Burbs.” He also worked on “Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy” at UCP. There he managed UCP’s overall deals with Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door, Patrick MacManus’ Littleton Road Productions and Sue Naegle’s Dinner Party.
His role at Artists Equity will work closely with creators to uphold the production company’s mission of “an innovative, talent-friendly model that ensures all participants share in each project’s success.”
The model at Artists Equity allows talent to take an ownership stake in their series and be rewarded for the content’s success. This profit model has been eliminated from many contracts in the streaming era.
Founders Matt Damon and Ben Affleck launched a writers’ room program for emerging talent in March of this year, specifically focused on development of feature screenplays. Selected writers for the twice-a-year room receive regular feedback directly from the Oscar-winning screenwriters and program mentor Eric Roth (“Forrest Gump,” “Dune”).
The studio plans to extend this writers’ room program to ideate original series idea to be packaged and sold.
