Aline Brosh McKenna is on the move.
The former Crazy Ex-Girlfriend showrunner has departed her longtime home at CBS TV Studios and signed a three-year pod deal with Disney-owned ABC Studios. As part of the deal, Brosh McKenna’s newly launched production company, Lean Machine, will create and develop new projects for all platforms for ABC Studios.
The first project in development from Lean Machine has also been set up at Hulu, with the comedy Hit in the works for the Disney-backed streaming platform. That effort has director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Sweet/Vicious) attached. Emily Rasenick serves as director of development for Lean Machine.
“I am so excited to be partnering with ABC Studios,” Brosh McKenna said Monday in a statement. “Dana [Walden], Jonnie [Davis] and the whole development team have so much passion for creating unique, quality television. I’m thrilled for the chance to continue working on projects I love. I hope Lean Machine will be a home for material that is character-driven, inclusive, human and which puts writers and writing at the center of the creative process.”
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In addition to serving as showrunner on all four seasons of The CW’s critical darling Crazy Ex-Girlfriend — which Brosh McKenna co-created alongside Rachel Bloom — her feature credits include The Devil Wears Prada, 27 Dresses, Morning Glory and We Bought a Zoo. With Lean Machine, she will create and develop new projects as well as partner with other creators.
“Aline’s film and TV work is truly unique and exceptional,” said ABC Studios president Davis. “Anyone who can write for Meryl Streep and Rachel Bloom is someone we want to be in business with, and we can’t wait to see what Aline and Emily have in store for us.”
Brosh McKenna is the latest creator to move their overall deal to ABC Studios. She joins John Legend, Schitt’s Creek creator Dan Levy and Little Fires Everywhere showrunner Liz Tigelaar, among others. The pact arrives as Disney is looking for top producers who can juggle multiple projects for a variety of platforms that feed into family-friendly and female-driven programming.
To that end, Lean Machine’s first project — Hit — is co-written and executive produced by Brosh McKenna and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend scribe Alden Derck. Robinson will exec produce and direct, should the script move to pilot. Hit revolves around a young pop star, struggling to write her debut album, who gets stuck in a songwriting boot camp organized by the anxious execs at her record label. Lean Machine’s Rasenick most recently was a creative executive at Footprint Features (When We First Met), where she worked after receiving her Master of Fine Arts from USC’s Peter Stark Producing Program.
Brosh McKenna is repped by attorney Ken Richman.
