Ex-Paramount Pictures president Gail Berman and former Yahoo! Media Group chief Lloyd Braun have inked a first-look development deal with NBC Universal Television.
Under the three-year pact, NBC and its siblings USA Network, Sci Fi Channel and Telemundo will have first crack at all projects Berman and Braun will develop through their newly launched BermanBraun production company. The deal covers an unusually broad range of projects, including scripted and unscripted shows for primetime and daytime as well as cable and syndication programs.
Additionally, if NBC Uni’s networks pass on a project developed by BermanBraun, sister studio NBC Universal TV Studio has a first-look to produce it for an outside buyer.
NBC Uni TV’s West Coast president Marc Graboff said he and his team were impressed by Berman and Braun’s experience as top network programrs at Fox and ABC, respectively.
Additionally, “they bring to the table tremendous and very complementary skills,” Graboff said. “Lloyd is a high-driving, very passionate big-idea guy with tremendous relationships around town, and Gail is a very artistic person with great taste, and talent loves her. The two of them coming together is a killer combo.”
