Management & production company Thruline Entertainment/Tagline Pictures has formed a strategic alliance with The Second City, the Chicago-based empire whose list of alumni reads like a Who's Who of Comedy. As part of the partnership, The Second City intends to develop original content in collaboration with Tagline (Psych, The Burn with Jeff Ross, Saint Francis).
With stages in Chicago, Toronto and Los Angeles, as well as multiple touring companies, The Second City boasts some of the most popular and successful comedy shows in North America. Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Adam McKay, John Belushi, Bill Murray and Keegan-Michael Key are just a few of The Comedy giants to hail from their stages. "We are thrilled to work with Thruline/Tagline in this new venture. In addition to creating new projects with Tagline, this partnership allows us to offer developing talent our experience, as well as Thruline's management expertise and resources," said Andrew Alexander, CEO/Executive Producer of The Second City.
Thruline/Tagline was founded 11 years ago by partners Chris Henze, JB Roberts, Ron West and Willie Mercer. Several long-time Thruline clients, including multiple Emmy Award-winner Eric Stonestreet, were originally Second City students and/or performers. Among the goals for the new alliance cited by Thruline principals is the opportunity to access talent from Second City's multiple educational and performance platforms. "Andrew and his team have an unprecedented track record in identifying and training some of the best comedy talent in all of entertainment," the partners noted in a joint statement. "We are so excited about what we can bring to the table as managers for their next generation of acting and writing talent. As producers of original content, this partnership will provide a deep reservoir of ideas and creators around which to build future development slates."
"We were obviously intrigued by this opportunity at the outset," said the partners, "but we were completely blown away by the time we spent in Chicago, taking in everything Andrew, Kelly (Leonard), Tyler (Alexander) and their teams have to offer. The scope of their operation is so impressive, but so is the remarkable care and attention they pay to their casts, students and alumni. We are honored to be a part of that tradition going forward."
ABOUT THE SECOND CITY: Beginning as a small cabaret theatre on Chicago's north side in 1959, The Second City has grown to become a comedy empire - building a robust $40+ million business based on its core improvisational methodologies. Resident theatres in Chicago and Toronto create topical sketch comedy revues that satirize politics, culture and news of the day. Additionally, The Second City performs thousands of shows each year in regional theatres, colleges, performing arts centers and through an exclusive partnership with Norwegian Cruise Line. Beyond its stages, The Second City created the foremost school of improvisation-based arts in the world - with training facilities in Chicago, Toronto and Los Angeles that currently enroll over 11,000 students annually; a corporate division that works with hundreds of Fortune 500 companies in areas of training,marketing, entertainment and brand services; and The Second City's forays into television and new media include the classic, Emmy Award-winning comedy series SCTV and continues to produce new content and programming originating from The Second City Entertainment's offices in Los Angeles including most recently I, Martin Short, Goes Home.
ABOUT THRULINE ENTERTAINMENT/TAGLINE PICTURES:Thruline is a Beverly Hills-based talent and literary management company, with 12 full-time managers. Founded in 2002, Thruline's roster includes clients on 40+ television series (plus 20+ new pilots), as well as several prominent writers and directors. Earlier in 2014 manager Steve Kavovit was promoted to partner, the first such addition to its partner ranks since the company's inception. Tagline is the development and production arm of Thruline Entertainment. Since its inception, almost 150 hours of television have been produced under the Tagline banner. The company's longest-running success to date is Psych, the award-winning one-hour USA Network dramedy, which recently aired its series finale. Additionally, over
The Past five development seasons, Tagline has landed two comedies (Man Up! and 100 Questions) and a drama (2013's Ironside reboot) on the prime-time schedule. During that time frame, Tagline set up more than 50 projects across cable and network, with an aggressive slate planned for the upcoming development season. Meanwhile, Tagline is currently in post-production on the ABC comedy series Saint Francis,created by Christopher Moynihan and directed by James Burrows.
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