Charlize Theron Inks Overall Deal With UCP, Sets Up 7 Projects

Charlize Theron‘s production company Denver & Delilah is on the move.

The Oscar-winning actress and producer has signed an overall deal with Universal Cable Productions, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment president Jeff Wachtel announced on Thursday at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour.

The deal, which also includes seven projects set up at broadcast, cable and streaming outlets, comes after Theron’s banner exited its overall deal with ABC Studios in 2013.

Additionally, Denver & Delilah has tapped Laverne McKinnon to head its scripted television division. She previously served as exec vp original programming and development at Epix as well as senior vp drama development at CBS.

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Under McKinnon’s oversight, the company has set up the following projects, all via the UCP deal:

• Diblings, a romantic comedy set up at NBC and written by Andrea Abbate (Accidentally on Purpose), about a young, uptight businessman and a rebellious purple-haired tattoo artist who will never be together but can’t stand being apart.

• The One, a dramatic series for Bravo written by Roger Wolfson (The Closer) that explores what it takes to succeed in the cutthroat world of billionaires and CEOs through the eyes of those who are often overlooked: the assistants. A young struggling street artist is hired to be the assistant to a visionary but enigmatic tech genius. The surprising relationship that forms between them begins to threaten everything the company has built.

• Pandora, an action-thriller for Amazon written by Josh Pate (Legends) about former CIA agent Pandora whose curiosity unleashes worldwide “sleepers” who are the personification of all evils. As she battles to put the evils “back in the box,” she discovers that this was all architected by someone hell bent on vengeance against her. Jonas Pate (Aquarius) will direct the pilot.

• Mythos for USA Network, written by Spenser Cohen and produced by Anna Halberg, is a high stakes, serialized adventure drama that reveals all we believed to be myth, from the Fountain of Youth to Atlantis, to be closely guarded truth, protected by two opposing orders, each with differing agendas for humanity

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• Other projects in development with UCP include a blind script deal with comic book writer Greg Rucka (Batwoman); Get Well Soon, written by Erika Cervantes and based on the book by Julie Halpern with Brendan Deneen from MacMillan Publishing attached to produce; and the novel A Life in Men by Gina Frangello.

“I had the pleasure of working with Charlize recently and was determined to keep working with her once I joined Universal Cable Productions,” said UCP exec vp development Dawn Olmstead. “Charlize, [Denver & Delilah partners] Beth [Kono] and AJ [Dix]‘s taste in material is stellar. I’m thrilled that Laverne has joined forces with them. Together they are rapidly growing an impressive slate of thought-provoking stand-out shows. I look forward to a fun, smart and classy ride with this group.”

Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
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