EXCLUSIVE: Good Walk Entertainment, the production company founded by former top Comedy Central executives Kent Alterman and Sarah Babineau, has signed a first-look deal with Sony Pictures Television.
Under the pact, the duo will develop and produce scripted comedy and drama series for the indie studio, starting with three projects that are already in the works: comedies with writer Jessi Klein, who is under a Sony TV overall deal, and writer Aadrita Mukerji, as well as a drama with director Jonathan Krisel.
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Alterman spent two decades at Comedy Central over two stints, rising to President. He departed in November 2019, in the wake of the CBS-Viacom merger. Babineau, one of his top lieutenants who served as co-head of original content at the network and briefly as Head of Comedy Central Content & Creative Enterprises following Alterman’s exit, left at the end of 2020 after six years.
The two went on to launch Good Walk which most recently had a first-look deal with FX. They kept it busness-y in their statement about the new pact with Sony TV, a departure from the humorous press release quotes Alterman was known for at Comedy Central.
“We are thrilled to partner with Katherine Pope and her smart, thoughtful teams in comedy and drama, and feel flattered to be amongst the high-level talent relationships they have in their tent”, Alterman and Babineau said. “We believe that together we will be able to deliver the kind of high-quality, character-driven, big-idea shows that audiences are truly clamoring for.”
During their Comedy Central tenures, Alterman and Babineau, individually or together, shepherded such series as South Park, Inside Amy Schumer, Key & Peele, Kroll Show, Nathan For You, Broad City, Drunk History, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Awkwafina is Nora From Queens, The Other Two, and South Side.
“Kent has a sharp eye for groundbreaking comedy and has spent decades turning raw talent into stars and championing the kind of comedy auteurs who define an era,” said Katherine Pope, President Sony Pictures Television Studios. “Together with Sarah, whose deep creative instincts and genuine passion match his at every turn, the two of them couldn’t be a more perfect addition to our Sony Family.”
Between his two tours of duty at Comedy Central, Alterman had an overall film deal at Fox Film Studios and served as EVP at New Line Cinema, working on films including Elf, A History of Violence, Little Children, and Semi-Pro, which he directed and executive produced.
Before joining Comedy Central, Babineau was at Amazon Studios, where she helped launch its first slate of original programming, including series Transparent and Mozart in the Jungle. Earlier, she worked as a creative executive at Sacha Baron Cohen’s Four by Two Films.
Alterman and Babineau are expected to develop both comedy and drama projects, and Alterman has drama experience from his time at New Line and his year-long stint as President of Comedy Central, Paramount Network, and TV Land, overseeing the then-drama-driven Paramount Network, home of Yellowstone.
Still, their expertise is in comedy. While Sony Television’s focus has been on drama since exiting the broadcast live-action comedy business a few years ago, the studio has been slowly regrowing its comedy footprint. It currently has the live-action series Platonic at Apple TV and Twisted Metal at Peacock and the animated Universal Basic Guys at Fox, with several projects in development, including the animated Swap Meet at Hulu and the live-action Save the Date, in internal development.
Good Walk’s pre-existing development slate spans TV and feature film projects at FX, Prime Video, Fox, Imagine, 20th Television, and Warner Bros. Animation. The company is also a co-production partner on several international projects with New Metric Media, which made an equity investment in Good Walk last fall.
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‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
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