Latest in Paul Lee

EXCLUSIVE: Wiip has optioned The Memo, the forthcoming novel by former Wall Street Journal reporters Rachel Dodes and Lauren Mechling. The independent studio will develop the book for TV with Lean Machine, the production company headed by screenwriter and director Aline Brosh McKenna. The novel…

EXCLUSIVE: HBO has made a two year, overall deal with Craig Zobel. Move comes as Zobel steps in to direct and become exec producer on Mare Of Easttown, the 7-episode limited series that is underway and stars Kate Winslet. The series started with Gavin O'Connor its director. The network said O’Connor has stepped back…

EXCLUSIVE: In an unusually vigorous auction for a true crime book published way back in 2011, wiip has won rights to People Who Eat Darkness, and will put together a limited series based on the book by Richard Lloyd Parry, Tokyo Editor of The Times Of London. People Who Eat Darkness: The True Story Of A Young Woman Who…

EXCLUSIVE: Julia Roberts is in discussions to star in and executive produce Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win, a limited series at Amazon based on the bestselling novel by Jo Piazza. The project is backed by wiip and Roberts' Red Om Films production company, along with Amazon Studios. The series is being adapted by Jon Robi…

EXCLUSIVE: Kate Winslet will make her limited television series debut in Mare of Easttown, a limited dramatic series for HBO, with Gavin O’Connor directing all the episodes. Brad Ingelsby created the drama, wrote all the episodes and will be the show runner. Winslet will play a small-town Pennsylvania detective who…

Facebook Watch has given a series commitment with penalty to a scripted drama from international soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, Memphis Beat creators Liz Garcia and Josh Harto, and Paul Lee’s recently launched independent studio, wiip. Written by Garcia and Harto, the as-yet untitled project follows a high school…

In a competitive situation, Paul Lee’s recently launched independent studio wiip has acquired the rights to Gimlet Media's new scripted podcast, Sandra, to develop for premium television. Gimlet Pictures (Homecoming), the TV and film production arm of Gimlet, will produce the series, its first project under the banner…

Proof that the line between movies and TV continues to blur comes from  the strong response to yesterday’s Sundance screening of four episodes of the ABC sitcom Downward Dog. Now, the question is, can Sundance prove as effective a launch pad that changes the fortunes of a TV show the way it has for features films like…

CAA has been kicking the tires of a potential scripted series production entity with former ABC Entertainment Group president Paul Lee. Word of the discussions first surfaced in October. Two months later, the venture continues to be in exploratory stages, with no deals in place and no backing for the potential…

SPOILER ALERT: This report contains spoilers from the Season 20 finale of The Bachelor. ABC announced its next contestant on The Bachelorette tonight, but for some it’s a case of same old, same old, diversity-wise. Jo Jo Fletcher, runner-up on the just-ended Season 20 of The Bachelor, will have the fellas chasing her…

UPDATED: In a major executive upheaval in the middle of pilot season, ABC Entertainment Group president Paul Lee has abruptly left the network. ABC head of drama Channing Dungey has been named president of ABC Entertainment, becoming the first black executive to run one of the Big Four networks’ entertainment…

“I’d be very surprised if The Bachelorette in the summer isn’t diverse,” said Paul Lee, the head of ABC Entertainment Group, at a TCA panel. Today. In 2016. The Bachelor franchise, which includes The Bachelorette, does not have a good track record when it comes to diversity. After 12 years on the air, many Reporters…