'Bates Motel' Executive Producers Ink First-Look Deal at Fox 21

Courtesy of Subject

Bert Salke.

The Bates Motel producers have found a home at Fox 21.

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Roy Lee and John Middleton, co-heads of Vertigo Entertainment, have inked a two-year first-look deal with the 20th Century Fox TV studio behind Homeland and Sons of Anarchy. As part of the deal, the partners will look to develop projects specifically for cable.

“I have known and admired Roy and John for some time and actively pursued being in business with them,” says Fox 21 president Bert Salke of the pair. "They are great, smart, ambitious guys who have shown a unique talent for identifying and developing very strong intellectual property in the feature world and, more recently, television with the production of Bates Motel on A&E."

Middleton and Lee's film credits include The Ring, The Grudge and The Departed.

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“They have a particularly strong eye for big, splashy and smart genre ideas and properties, which makes them perfect for the type of event programming that we aim to make at Fox 21," Salke continued. "Bates Motel is an example of the kind of edgy, sophisticated and attention-getting programming we make at our company."

Middleton and Lee join a growing roster of writer-producers at Fox 21, including Hung creators Dmitry Lipkin and Collette Burson, Syriana director Stephen Gaghan and playwright Craig Wright. 

The duo, whose Psycho prequel Bates Motel bows March 18 on A&E, are repped by WME.

Email: Lacey.Rose@THR.com; Twitter: @LaceyVRose