Larry Wilmore Sets Multi-Year Overall Deal at Universal Television
By Joe Otterson
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Larry Wilmore is departing ABC Studios for a new, multi-year overall deal with Universal Television.
Wilmore and his Wilmore Films banner will now be based at UTV, with Candace Rodney, vice president of development for Wilmore films, also making the move.
“The number of successful shows that Larry has had a hand in launching is impressive and he shows no signs of slowing down,” said UTV president Pearlena Igbokwe. “I could not be more excited and consider us lucky that he has chosen to call Universal his home for the next few years.”
Wilmore signed his overall deal with ABC Studios in 2016. During his time at the studio, he executive produced the critically-acclaimed series “Black-ish” and co-created the spinoff “Grown-ish.” “Black-ish” was recently renewed for a sixth season at ABC, while “Grown-ish” has been renewed for a third season at Freeform. Wilmore also served as consulting producer on the ABC comedy “The Mayor” for ABC.
“I’m beyond thrilled to be back at to join Pearlena and her amazing team!” Wilmore said. “As a teen I actually used to sneak on the Universal lot and dream of belonging there some day. It’s nice to not have to sneak on anymore. I’m living my dream!”
Wilmore’s other credits include co-creating series such as “Insecure” and “The PJs,” and solely creating “The Bernie Mac Show.” He won the Emmy for best writing for a comedy series for his work on “The Bernie Mac Show.” Wilmore was also a writer and consulting producer on “The Office” as well as an on-screen correspondent for “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” His time on “The Daily Show” led to his own Comedy Central series, “The Nightly Show with ,” which ran for over 250 episodes. He currently hosts the podcast “Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air” for The Ringer Podcast Network.
He is repped by 3 Arts Entertainment and Hansen Jacobson.
Wilmore is the latest in a long line of high-profile creators to change studio homes in the search for greener overall deal pastures. It was recently announced that “The Goldbergs” creator Adam F. Goldberg had departed his longtime home at Sony Pictures Television for a deal with ABC Studios. Prior to that, “Black-ish” creator Kenya Barris exited ABC Studios for a deal with Netflix reportedly worth nine figures. Others like Ryan Murphy, Shonda Rhimes, Mindy Kaling, Mike Schur, and Nahnatchka Khan have all signed rich-new deals in the past year.
