Richard Plepler’s Eden Productions Recruits HBO Exec

Richard Plepler is recruiting from his past.

His Eden Productions announced Thursday that it has entered in to an exclusive first-look deal with Ben Wasserstein, with whom Plepler worked at HBO. Wasserstein, who most recently served as a senior vp of original programming at the premium cable network, will remain on the west coast, where he’ll develop new fare across film and TV for his former boss’ Apple TV+-based company.

“Ben is one of the most talented creative executives of his generation,” noted Plepler. “I’m thrilled he’ll be bringing his superb eye for talent and material to Eden.”

Wasserstein joined HBO in 2016, and has worked on comedy series including Barry, The Rehearsal, Somebody Somewhere, Los Espookys, Veep and Curb Your Enthusiasm during his tenure there. Prior to HBO, he was the vp of development at Fair Harbor Productions, where he also worked on HBO series Looking and Bored to Death. Before that, the son of the late mogul, Bruce Wasserstein, was a journalist and the editorial director of The New Republic.

In his new role, Wasserstein will work in conjunction with Heather Karpas, who joined Eden from ICM Partners in 2020. The Plepler-run company, which was founded that same year, has a slew of projects in development with creatives including Emilia di Girolamo (Three Pines), Fanny Herrero (Call My Agent!), Taffy Brodesser-Akner (Fleischman is in Trouble), Lara Shapiro (The Americans) and Gideon Raff (Homeland).

Of late, Plepler and his still-growing Eden is riding high on its 2022 success Black Bird, a crime drama from Dennis Lehane. The company, which has an exclusive multi-year deal at Apple TV+, is also behind The Problem with Jon Stewart and the four-part doc series Lincoln’s Dilemma. Going forward, the slate includes a Michael Douglas-fronted event series about Ben Franklin’s eight years in France, based on the Stacy Schiff book A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America. Also forthcoming is the crime drama Firebug, about serial arsonists in California, from Black Bird’s Lehane. Taron Egerton is set to star in the latter with another former HBO exec Kary Antholis attached as an executive producer.