U colors in Black & White

Duo set up shingle, look to hire exec to run co.

By MICHAEL FLEMING

Black

White

Universal Pictures has made a two-year first-look producing deal with Black and White Prods., a newly formed company that teams "The School of Rock" star Jack Black with the film's writer, Mike White.

They have more in common than just last names that make for a catchy company logo. They are former neighbors who grew close enough that White wrote both "Orange County" and "The School of Rock" specifically with Black in mind.

Several studios met with the duo during the past week. Moving quickest to make a deal was Universal, which has never made a movie with White but has Black on the payroll as one of the stars of Peter Jackson's "King Kong."

Black boards a plane for New Zealand on Thursday and will be there for the next seven months to play the misguided man who brings Kong to Gotham.

Fortuitous timing

Black and White will shortly hire an exec to run their company. Pact comes days after the pair decided to team up, and just as White joined Black's agency UTA, which shopped the new company's deal.

"They act, they write, they have this ravenous appetite to tell interesting stories, they have their finger on the pulse and a unique and funny way of looking at the world," Universal vice chairman Mary Parent said. "We'd tried for some time to make a movie with Mike, and we've gotten to know what Jack is about through 'King Kong.' For us, this was a no-brainer deal with big upside potential."

She said the duo didn't come with a project as part of the deal, but Parent hoped they'd find one to work on together.

While neither partner has yet produced a film, both have TV producer credits.

Part of rock group

Black is half of Tenacious D, a rock group that is the focus of a New Line feature he hopes to star in with bandmate Kyle Gass. Pic, called "Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny," will be directed by Liam Lynch. Black also voices the vegetarian shark character in DreamWorks' upcoming toon pic "Shark Tale."

White began writing and producing on such series as "Freaks and Geeks" and "Dawson's Creek" and first made his mark scripting the cult comedy "Chuck & Buck," in which he also starred. White followed by scripting the Jennifer Aniston starrer "The Good Girl." He's writing a project for Scott Rudin, who produced both "Orange County" and "The School of Rock."