One of TV’s most prolific partnerships is coming to an end.
Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci have parted ways on the TV side, with the former signing a new overall deal with CBS Television Studios, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Under his new multiyear pact with the studio, Kurtzman and his newly launched Secret Hideout banner will develop new projects and continue to executive produce CBS fare including Hawaii Five-0 and more. K/O Paper Productions will continue to produce Hawaii Five-0 (CBS), Sleepy Hollow (Fox) and Scorpion (CBS).
Heather Katin, who headed K/O Paper Products — Kurtzman and Orci’s former joint production company — will follow Kurtzman and serve as president of Secret Hideout. The company’s first show under the new banner will be CBS All Access’ Star Trek: Discovery. Kadin will remain involved on Sleepy Hollow and Scorpion and will exec produce Star Trek: Discovery. Former K/O TV vp Aaron Baiers will remain on board in the same role at Secret Hideout and also serve as a producer on Star Trek: Discovery.
The news comes more than a year and a half Kurtzman and Orci parted ways on the film side in a bid to focus on separate franchises.
Kurtzman and Orci first started writing together on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys before working with J.J. Abrams on Alias. Together, they worked on the Transformers and Star Trek feature film franchises as well as Mission: Impossible III and Amazing Spider-Man 2. K/O Paper Products is responsible for CBS’ sophomore drama Scorpion, Hawaii Five-0, rookie Limitless and Sleepy Hollow — which hails from 20th Century Fox Television, where the duo worked on Fringe before moving to CBSTVS.
While both Kurtzman and Orci co-wrote the 2009 Star Trek revival and 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness, Orci is not attached to the new TV reboot set to air exclusively on CBS’ digital subscription platform CBS All Access.
Kurtzman, who has a three-year film deal at Universal, is repped by CAA and attorney Michael Gendler.
