Howard Gordon Headshot - P 2012
Homeland co-creator Howard Gordon has created a production company, Teakwood Lane, at 20th Century Fox TV, where he has spent nearly his entire career.
As part of the extensive pact, Gordon will continue to executive produce the Emmy-nominated Showtime series alongside co-creator Alex Gansa, as well as focus his energies on developing and overseeing new cable and broadcast series for the studio. This past TV season, he was tasked with showrunning NBC’s critically acclaimed but ultimately short-lived Awake as part of his studio deal.
“Howard Gordon is an incredible talent, who has shepherded some of the studio’s most important franchises from The X-Files to24 toHomeland. He’s a gifted storyteller, a brilliant producer, and about the most beloved showrunner working in this business. The question was never how do we extend our relationship with him, but how do we clone him?” joked 20th TV chairmen Dana Walden andGary Newman in a joint statement.
In addition to creating series, the former 24 showrunner has hired Hugh Fitzpatrick as Teakwood’s head of television for the company. In the new role, Fitzpatrick will be tasked with managing the company’s development slate and assisting Gordon in identifying promising writers for Gordon to supervise. Until recently, Fitzpatrick served as VP of television development at BBC Worldwide Productions, which he joined after his stint as a TV lit agent at Endeavor.
“My favorite part of the job has always been working with other writers, so this will be a writer-driven company,” noted Gordon. “Finding vivid characters and telling their stories is a bit like drilling for oil; when you tap a well, it’s an amazing feeling. And because I’ve made so many mistakes drilling in the wrong places, I feel uniquely qualified to help other writers avoid making those same mistakes.”
Gordon, who moved out to Los Angeles with Gansa after the pair graduated from Princeton, first gained attention for his work on The X Files. He gained credits on such series as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angels, before joined Fox’s long-running 24, for which he executive produced and ran. Gordon garnered Golden Globe and Emmy wins for his work on the latter.
More recently, it’s Homeland that has Gordon –and Gansa—on the awards circuit. The Peabody-winning series, which took home the best drama award at this year’s Golden Globes, is up for nine Emmy nominations, including best drama.
Gordon, who has added author to his resume more recently with the novels Gideon’s War and sequel Hard Target, is repped by WME.
Email: Lacey.Rose@THR.com; Twitter: @LaceyVRose
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