Will Arnett Launches Production Company, Inks First-Look Deal With CBS (Exclusive)

Will Arnett‘s media footprint is about to expand considerably.

Hot off a strong opening weekend for his latest film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which has grossed $126 million worldwide to date, the prolific actor is launching a production company titled Electric Avenue. The company, which will develop and produce content across all platforms, has already inked a first-look deal at CBS TV Studios, the studio home to Arnett’s CBS comedy The Millers.

For Electric’s first project, the company is in final negotiations to option Johanna Stein‘s How Not to Calm a Child on a Plane and Other Lessons in Parenting From a Highly Questionable Source, a collection of autobiographical essays recounting the comedian’s experiences as a first-time mother.

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As Arnett looks to add more programming to the company’s slate, he has lured Jed Weitzman, formerly of Brillstein Grey, to come run the company. Weitzman will relocate from New York, where he’s spent the past half-decade or so working with media and technology companies including Warner Music Group, IAC and Buddy Media. Arnett also has tapped Marc Forman to serve as his director of development.

The news comes as Arnett, a five-time Emmy nominee for his work on Arrested Development and 30 Rock, continues to add high-profile projects to his résumé. In addition to The Millers, which rounded out the 2013-14 season as the highest-rated freshman sitcom, he co-starred in the Netflix revival of Arrested, which will continue if the actors’ schedules allow, and the streaming service’s forthcoming animated series, BoJack Horseman. Earlier this year, Arnett starred in both The Lego Movie and The Nut Job.

Arnett is managed by WME and Principato Young; Weitzman is repped by WME; Stein is repped by APA.