ABC Family, ABC Studios and ABC Signature have inked a two-year deal with McG of Wonderland Sound & Vision. Under the deal, he will direct and develop scripted drama and comedy series and produce digital content for various platforms. ABC Family is becoming Freeform in January 2016.
"Everything McG touches gets bigger and better. I'm thrilled that 'Shadowhunters' will showcase his brilliant work as a director when it premieres in January," said Karey Burke, Executive Vice President Programming and Development,
ABC Family. "McG will be ushering in new ideas and projects to live under our new Freeform banner."
"I'm delighted to be a part of the Disney|ABC Television Group team. I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to work closely with the entire Disney family, especially Karey Burke and Tom Ascheim in the launch of Freeform," McG.
McG has an impressive body of work as an executive producer in the TV space with four shows currently on the air - "Supernatural" in its 11th season on the CW, "Mysteries of Laura" in its second season on NBC, the
ABC Family comedy "Kevin from Work" and upcoming saga series "Shadowhunters." McG's previous television titles include the groundbreaking series "The O.C.," "Chuck," "Nikita," "Human Target," and "Fastlane."
"Shadowhunters" is a straight-to-series order for the network. McG directed the pilot and is an executive producer alongside Mary Viola. Ed Decter is the writing executive producer and showrunner. The drama saga is based on the bestselling young adult fantasy book series The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, whose series has sold more than 36 million books. The show follows Clary Fray, who finds out on her 18th birthday that she comes from a long line of Shadowhunters - human-angel hybrids who hunt down demons. When her mother, Jocelyn, is kidnapped, Clary is thrown into the world of demon hunting with mysterious Shadowhunter Jace, and her best friend, Simon. Now living among faeries, warlocks, vampires and werewolves, Clary begins a journey of self-discovery as she learns more about her past and what her future may hold.
Part of the Disney|ABC Television Group,
ABC Family (to be renamed Freeform in January 2016) is distributed in 94 million homes. The network entertains and connects to audiences with bold, relatable programming that celebrates the epic adventure of becoming an adult, from first kiss to first kid. The programming is a combination of network-defining original series and original movies, quality acquired series and blockbuster theatricals. "WATCH
ABC Family" (also to be renamed Freeform in January 2016) is an authenticated service which allows viewers with participating TV subscription services access to 24/7 live viewing of the network, as well as continued on-demand access to such popular series at home and on-the-go via a wide array of devices. The network is also the destination for annual holiday events with "13 Nights of Halloween" and "25 Days of Christmas."
ABC Studios is a leader in the development, production and strategic distribution of entertainment content across broadcast, cable and on demand platforms. The studio is the key content provider for the
ABC Entertainment Group, having produced multiple seasons of hit series, including current shows "Scandal," "black-ish," "American Crime," "Castle," "Grey's Anatomy," "How to Get Away with Murder," "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," "Marvel's Agent Carter," "Once Upon A Time" and "Secrets and Lies" for ABC; "Criminal Minds" for CBS, "Devious Maids" for Lifetime, as well as past hits "Desperate Housewives," "Lost" and "Revenge." For the 2015-16 television season,
ABC Studios is producing "The Muppets, "Quantico" and "Wicked City" on ABC, "Grandfathered" on
FOX and "Code Black" and "Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders" on CBS.
Established in 2013,
ABC Signature is
ABC Studios' boutique division, which spearheads development in premium and basic cable, emerging platforms and off-cycle, direct to series programming for broadcast networks. The division is currently in production on the new
ABC drama series "Blood & Oil," starring Don Johnson and Chace Crawford and recently completed production on the multi-cam comedy pilot for
ABC Family entitled "Gorgeous Morons," produced by Danny Chun, Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky.
ABC Signature's first series was the half-hour comedy "Benched," starring Eliza Coupe, produced by Mark Gordon for USA.
About Wonderland Sound and Vision:
McG and his Wonderland Sound and Vision have built their brand as filmmakers and pop culture curators by accumulating over $1 billion at the box office and producing over 600 hours of prime-time network television. McG's feature film directorial debut, CHARLIE'S ANGELS, remains one of the biggest openings ever for a first-time director, ultimately grossing over $250 million worldwide. His follow-up features include the sequel CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE which went on to gross an additional $265 million, TERMINATOR: SALVATION which grossed $372 million dollars worldwide, the sports drama WE ARE MARSHALL starring Matthew McConaughey, the action-comedy THIS MEANS WAR starring Tom Hardy, and the action-thriller THREE DAYS TO KILL starring Kevin Costner. McG's next feature film, which he is set to produce and direct for New Line, is based on the black list script THE BABYSITTER. Wonderland Sound and Vision, led by President of Television and Film Mary Viola, recently produced the box-office hit The Duff for
CBS Films/Lionsgate, which cost $8.5 million to produce, and grossed over $43 million worldwide. The company also produced Chris Evans' directorial debut Before We Go, which Radius reported was the biggest pre-theatrical success of 2015. In the television space, Wonderland's current shows on the air include Supernatural, entering its 11th season on the CW, Mysteries of Laura in its second season on NBC, the workplace comedy
KEVIN FROM WORK on
ABC Family, and Shadowhunters premiering in January of 2016. Prior network shows from the company include the groundbreaking series The OC, Chuck, Human Target, Nikita, and Fastlane. In the digital space, Wonderland has produced Ghostfacers, Sorority Forever and the highly successful series Aim High for Warner Bros.
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