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It’s official! Visionary filmmaker Ava DuVernay is expanding her relationship with Warner Bros. Television in a huge way by signing a multi-year, multi-genre overall deal with the entertainment company. The production and development deal is reportedly worth $100 million dollars, according to Deadline.
Along with her Forward Movement production company, DuVernay will develop new drama, comedy, long form and event series, as well as documentaries and digital content for the studio’s broadcast, basic and premium cable, and streaming and on-demand platforms.
“Ava DuVernay is one of the leading lights in our industry, a brilliantly talented writer, producer, director and entrepreneur whose ability to inspire with her art is exceeded only by her ability to entertain,” said Warner Bros. Television chief Peter Roth. “We have had the great pleasure of working with her on ‘Queen Sugar’ and ‘The Red Line,’ and we are extremely excited about the new stories she has to tell.”
This marks DuVernay’s first studio overall deal, which will go into effect in January of 2019.
“I’ve had nothing but beautiful experiences working with Peter Roth, Susan Rovner and Brett Paul,” DuVernay told Deadline. “They love and support artists in wonderful and nourishing ways. They work within a traditional studio headed by Kevin Tsujihara that is stirring with untraditional energy and fresh protocols for intentional, inclusive image-making. Warner Bros. is a terrific partner about matters of visibility and belonging for all kinds and cultures of people, which is our mission at Forward Movement. I couldn’t be happier to call Warner Bros. TV my production home.”
Congratulations, Ava! Thank you for always using your platform to push the culture forward.