“Koala Man” showrunners Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez have inked an overall deal with 20th TV Animation and ABC Signature, with the latter bringing them into live-action entertainment.
News of the deal broke Monday, TheWrap confirmed – the same day their new adult animated series was scheduled to premiere on Hulu.
“We’re so excited to expand our creative partnership with 20thTelevision Animation and ABC Signature,” Samit and Hernandez said in a joint statement. “Working with Marci Proietto and Chris Cikowski as well as Jonnie Davis and Tracy Underwood has been a dream come true. We hope we can be together forever, or at least until the kids go to college.”
Marci Proietto, EVP of 20th Television Animation and Jonnie Davis, President of ABC Signature, added, “Dan and Benji are wildly talented writers with a truly unique sensibility and a hilarious voice. We have been obsessed with their work for years and are very excited to continue our relationship in animation with them, and are thrilled to expand their development into live-action within our studio. We also can’t wait for viewers to dive into ‘Koala Man’, which is our first series with this incredible duo, launching on Hulu today.”
The new multi-year deal will see the creative partners developing, writing and producing animated and live-action series across ABC Signature platforms via their own production company, Hermit House. In addition to “Koala Man,” which features the voice talents of Sarah Snook, Demi Lardner and Hugh Jackman and which they developed and executive produce with Michael Cusack and Justin Roiland, Samit and Hernandez also have workplace comedy “Talk Nerdy to Me” in early development at CBS, which they are executive producing for ABC Signature.
Additionally, Hernandez and Samit created and EP “Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion” from Disney Branded Television and are writing an upcoming feature film for Disney via Seth Rogen’s Point Grey. They also have a pair of unannounced projects for Lucasfilm and Walt Disney Pictures currently in development.
Previous credits for the pair include “Central Park,” the Peabody-nominated “One Day at a Time,” Amazon’s “The Tick,” ABC’s “Super Fun Night” and “1600 Penn” for NBC.
Hernandez and Samit are repped by 3 Arts, UTA, and Jackoway.