Ava Duvernay and Warner Television End Overall Deal
Ava Duvernay and Warner Television are calling it quits on their overall deal after finishing up the five-year deal she signed in late 2018.
The overall deal ends on May 31 and Duvernay will continue focusing on her film projects, via The Hollywood Reporter. It had nothing to do with the ongoing writer’s strike between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers as Duvernay and Warner came to the mutual decision months ago before studios suspended overall deals with writers.
Duvernay inked the deal when Peter Roth was still steering the ship at Warner and the media giant was prioritizing deals with diverse writers, producers, and directors.
“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,” former Warner Bros. TV chief Peter Roth said in a statement at the time.
There were claims that Duvernay’s deal was worth $100 million, but insiders have since said the deal was between $60 million-$80 million.
As part of the deal, Duvernay released “Queen Sugar” on OWN, CBS’ “For Justice”, The CW’s DC Comics entry “Naomi” and Max’s “DMZ”. Her Netflix series, “Colin in Black & White” and “When They See Us” were produced outside of DuVernay’s ARRAY deal with WBTV.
Duvernay’s latest TV project is a romantic series for Starz starring Joshua Jackson and Lauren Ridloff. However, production for the show has been put on pause amid the ongoing WGA strike.
No word on where Duvernay will move her television deal. Now with Roth serving as a board member on DuVernay’s ARRAY banner, the “Wrinkle in Time” creator could see a future as her own independent studio without the need for an overall TV deal thanks to her deep relationships with networks, studios, and streamers across the industry.
The “Selma” director is currently in post-production on her film “Caste”, which includes Vera Farmiga, Niecy Nash, Nick Offerman, Jon Bernthal, Audra McDonald and Connie Nielsen, Deadline reports.