Shingle shifts over to Fox 21
Benderspink inks pact
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Pod pact will provide funding for Benderspink to expand its TV operations, with Fox 21 getting first crack at all of the company's small screen projects. Producer Julie Plec ("Scream 2," "Wasteland") has been hired by Benderspink partners Chris Bender and J.C. Spink to oversee development for the new tube arm.
Deal reps the first announced pod deal for Fox 21, which was formed in spring as part of 20th's desire to develop low-cost programming from the ground up.
Benderspink -- producers on pics including "The Ring," "Butterfly Effect" and the upcoming "Monster-in-Law" -- have dabbled in TV, producing a pilot at NBC last season. Company's also on board a Comedy Central pilot with thesp Skyler Stone.
Leisner said her relationship with Bender and Spink goes back to her earliest days as an exec.
"They were one of the first calls I made when I got here," she said. "They're aggressive, which I love, and part of the thing we're doing here is trying to find new, untapped television voices -- and they've got a whole stable of them."
What's more, because Benderspink aren't TV vets, the company might be more amenable to Fox 21's alternative approach to development, Leisner said.
"I don't have to break them of any bad habits because they don't have any," she said.
Spink said he and Bender have long wanted to get more active in television.
"I really think the golden age of TV is now," he said. "There are so many shows on TV I love. I see them, and I get upset that we're not in the TV business."
Plec comes to Benderspink with a background in both film and TV.
On the feature side, she worked on the second and third "Scream" pics and Dimension's upcoming "Cursed." TV-wise, she was a consultant on "Dawson's Creek" and developed several pilots with Wes Craven and Greg Berlanti.
"We met with a lot of people (about the development job) and connected with Julie the most," Bender said.
