Jerrod Carmichael Signs 2-Year Overall Deal With HBO

Joe Otterson TV ReporterRodney Barnes has renewed his overall deal with HBO for a further three years, Variety has learned.Barnes most recently worked as a writer and executive producer on the premium cabler’s hit series “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.” Barnes was credited with co-writing nine episodes of the show’s 10-episode first season. The show was renewed for a second season in April, with Barnes continuing on with the show as writer and executive producer.Under the terms of the deal, Barnes will continue to develop, write, and produce shows in a variety of formats under his Rodney Barnes Productions banner.Barnes’ past TV credits include shows like “Everybody Hates Chris,” “Wu-Tang: An American Saga,” “The Boondocks,” and “My Wife and Kids.” His current development slate include: the feature adaptation “Ride Around Shining” at Netflix; a miniseries on Tiger Woods; a feature for New Regency with Jordan Vogt-Roberts attached to direct.

Winning Time writer, producer and comic book creator Rodney Barnes is staying in business with HBO, with a renewal of his overall deal for three more years.

FX’s Mayans M.C. will return for Season 5, it was revealed during the show’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con on Sunday. The gritty motorcycle drama wrapped its fourth season on June 14.

EXCLUSIVE: Writer-producer Erika Green Swafford (New Amsterdam) has signed an exclusive overall deal with Disney’s Onyx Collective. Under the pact, Green Swafford will develop television projects exclusively for Onyx, with a focus on drama series, which she will produce through her production company, Chocolate Girl Wonder. In addition to expanding the scope of stories and characters seen on TV through her own development, Green Swafford is committed to acting as a ladder for other underrepresented creatives.

EXCLUSIVE: Derek Hough is celebrating more than just his recent Emmy nomination for his choreography work in the ABC special The Movies with Derek and Julianne Hough. The longtime Dancing with the Stars pro-turned judge has signed an overall deal with Walt Disney Television Alternative.

Salli Richardson-Whitfield has extended her overall deal with HBO and HBO Max for two additional years.As part of her deal extension, the multi-hyphenate will direct half of Season 2 of the series, after directing two episodes in Season 1. She will also serve as an executive producer on the show for Season 2.The actor, director and producer will continue to serve as an EP on the Julian Fellowes’ drama “The Gilded Age.” Richardson-Whitfield will also develop original series content under her Early May production banner, including “Motherland Bounce,” the story of rapper Nissim Black, written by Moshe Kasher for HBO Max.Richardson-Whitfield directed the first four episodes of “The Gilded Age” previously, and the final two episodes of “Winning Time” Season 1.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterSalli Richardson-Whitfield has extended her overall deal with HBO and HBO Max for an additional two years.Under the terms of the deal, Whitfield will become an executive producer on the HBO basketball drama “Winning Time: Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” and will direct the second half of the show’s upcoming second season. She previously directed two episodes in Season 1, including both the penultimate episode and the season finale.

Veteran director, producer and actor Salli Richardson-Whitfield is staying in business with HBO/HBO Max, with a renewal of her overall deal for two more years.

Riyad Mahrez has joked that he'll get a new phone after sharing an image of his damaged phone on social media whilst boarding the plane to Manchester City's pre-season tour. Mahrez has signed a new contract with City that will keep him at the club until 2025.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterPat McAfee is staying in business with WWE.The sports entertainment giant has announced that McAfee has signed a multi-year extension of his contract. He will continue to serve as a member of the commentary team on “SmackDown Live” alongside Michael Cole. Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed.“Very few can transition from professional athletics to entertainment the way [Pat McAfee] has,” Paul “Triple H” Levesque wrote on Twitter.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterGet Lifted Film Co. has entered a multi-year overall deal for scripted content at UCP.

EXCLUSIVE: On the heels of his headline-making HBO special Rothaniel, Jerrod Carmichael has signed a two-year overall deal with the premium network. It includes Carmichael headlining a new stand-up comedy special. It would be his third at HBO, following the 2014 Love at the Store, 2017 8 and this year’s Rothaniel. He is also expected to develop other projects. Noone is commenting but I hear the pact is valued in the eight-figure range.

BET has signed comedian, actress and producer Patricia “Ms. Pat” Williams to a multi-year overall deal under which she will produce, write and perform in new series and other projects—both scripted and unscripted— across BET and Paramount Global.

EXCLUSIVE: After parting ways for a brief time, Michael Bay and Brad Fuller are teaming back up with Fuller returning to Platinum Dunes and the producing duo signing an overall deal with Universal Pictures. With more than $2.7 billion in box office grosses since its founding in 2001, the Company’s credits include some of the most iconic genre films in recent history: the reinvigorated Texas Chainsaw Massacre series; the critically and commercially-acclaimed A Quiet Place: Parts I & II; as well as Universal Pictures’ successful The Purge and Ouija franchises. Today’s announcement was made by Universal Pictures President, Peter Cramer.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Cake Boss” star Buddy Valastro, a longtime staple in the Warner Bros. Discovery lifestyle brands family, is making A+E Networks his new TV home.The cable giant has signed custom cake whiz Valastro, who rose to fame through his TLC reality series “Cake Boss,” which is centered on his long-standing family business Carlo’s Bakery, to a multi-platform creative partnership.The pact encompasses more than 60 hours of original programming, including development of multiple new series and holiday specials produced by A+E’s Six West Media, in association with Valastro’s Cakehouse Media.

Wilson Chapman editorAmy Schumer, Hasan Minhaj, Taylor Tomlinson and Jerrod Carmichael will receive awards at the Just for Laughs award show next month.The ceremony will take place at the Just For Laughs Montreal festival, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary. The award show, which takes place July 29 at the DoubleTree, will see Schumer receive an award for comedy person of the year.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterMelissa Benoist and her Three Things Productions banner have renewed their overall deal with Warner Bros. Television.In addition, Benoist has officially signed on to star in and produce the upcoming HBO Max-WBTV series “The Girls on the Bus.” She was first reported as being in talks for the series back in February.Under the terms of the overall deal, Benoist and Three Things will continue to develop and produce programming across all platforms for WBTV. Benoist runs three things with Sahar Kashi, the company’s vice president of development.“The Girls on the Bus” is inspired by a chapter in Amy Chozick’s book “Chasing Hillary.” Benoist will play Sadie McCarthy, a journalist who romanticizes the original “Boys on the Bus” and who scrapped her whole life for her own shot at covering a presidential campaign for the paper of record.

EXCLUSIVE: Writer-producer Francisca X. Hu is getting into business with UCP. Hu has signed an overall deal with UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, under which she will develop and produce projects for a variety of television platforms.

previous one with WBTV, signed back in 2020.Thede’s current projects include the acclaimed “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” which was renewed for a fourth season earlier this month. Starring, created, showrun, executive produced and written by Thede, the historic sketch series is made entirely by and for Black women, whose skits touch on topics like sex, relationships, religion and social norms.

Following her work on “The Morning Show,” Apple TV+ is locking up Emmy Award-winning director and filmmaker Mimi Leder to a multi-year overall deal. Under the pact, the growing streaming service will have a first-look on streaming features, as well as an exclusive deal for series developed by Leder, who currently serves as executive producer and director on the star-studded “The Morning Show.” The deal comes shortly after Apple TV+ renewed “The Morning Show” for a third season.