Former Grey’s Anatomy showrunners Tony Phelan and Joan Rater are on the move.
The married duo and writing partners have exited their overall deal at CBS Television Studios and inked a new two-year pact with Universal Television.
Under the deal, Phelan and Rater will create, develop and supervise new projects for broadcast, cable and streaming platforms.
“Tony and Joan have been on our radar for the past several years because they are so talented and versatile and we’re thrilled to be in business with them,” Universal TV president Pearlena Igbokwe said.
Phelan and Rater, who served as showrunners and exec producers on Grey’s Anatomy for eight seasons, exited the ABC drama in 2013 for their first overall pact in 2013 with CBS TV Studios. While at the latter, the duo reunited with Katherine Heigl on CBS’ Doubt, and developed a Nancy Drew reboot starring Sarah Shahi. Nancy Drew narrowly missed a series pickup as CBS instead opted to go to series on Doubt, which ran for one season. Coincidentally, UTV’s broadcast sibling NBC is also developing a new take on Nancy Drew from Rater and Phelan.
“We’ve been huge fans of the compelling work that Pearlena, Erin [Underhill, exec vp drama] and their team have done at the studio and we’re looking forward to collaborating as part of the Universal Television family. Any opportunity to get closer to Butter Beer is a bonus, too,” Rater and Phelan said in a joint statement.
Repped by UTA and Myman Greenspan, Phelan and Rater’s credits include consulting on CBS’ Madam Secretary.
