Kurland pacts for three-year overall deal at Touchstone
Exec to create and produce comedies
The seven-figure pact calls for Kurland to create and produce comedies for Touchstone. His initial output is being targeted for ABC, though the deal will not restrict him to projects for the Alphabet web.
Many in the industry had predicted Touchstone Television would have trouble attracting top talent following its consolidation into the ABC Television Entertainment Group. But as indicated by the Kurland deal, the studio, whose day-to-day operations are being overseen by Steve McPherson, has remained an active player in the hunt for talent.
Kurland has been with "Friends" since the 1996-97 season, joining the Warner Bros.-produced laffer as an executive story editor. He was upped to co-producer in 1997 and became a supervising producer last year. This is his first season as a co-exec producer of the NBC comedy.
Before "Friends," Kurland spent much of the 1995-96 season as an executive story editor on NBC's "Mad About You." His other credits include NBC's short-lived "Something Wilder" and a seg of USA Network's laffer "Weird Science."
