XG Productions Strikes First-Look Deal With CBS Studios
Television Editor
@peterzwhiteMore Stories By Peter
April 16, 2021 9:43am
EXCLUSIVE: XG Productions, the company behind Fox’s reboot of America’s Most Wanted, has struck a first-look deal with CBS Studios and has set its first project – a TV adaptation of its Audible original series Call Me God in the works at Paramount+.
The company, which was set up by former FBI agents, Jim and Tim Clemente, is turning the audiobook story, about their role in the DC Sniper investigation, into a scripted series for the fledgling streamer. XG’s Head of Audio, Peter McDonnell, was co-author and Executive Producer on the audio series.
The Clemente brothers are attached to write alongside NCIS: Los Angelesshowrunner R. Scott Gemmill with Charmed and Dynasty exec producer Brad Silberling set to direct the pilot.
XG will produce with CBS Studios as part of their new first-look deal that will see the company develop and produce premium content in both the scripted and unscripted space.
They have an emphasis on the crime genre, leveraging the company’s deep law enforcement expertise, inside access to law enforcement agencies around the globe and award-winning audio IP. The latter includes a slew of podcasts and audio documentaries including Wondery’s Real Crime Profile, Best Case/Worst Case and Audible Original Series Evil Has A Name and Brooklyn North.
America’s Most Wanted, hosted by Elizabeth Vargas, returned to Fox last month. The company is also behind CBS’ The Case of: JonBenet Ramsey, Discovery and Netflix’s Manhunt: Unabomber and Netflix’s Pandemic. It is also developing Real Criminal Minds, a non-scripted series based on the long-running procedural with CBS Studios and ABC Signature for Paramount+.
Jim and Tim Clemente set the production company up after their hung up their law enforcement badges; Jim was a profiler in the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit while Tim was a sniper and tactical agent on the FBI SWAT Team. They worked some of the most notorious cases in history including the 9/11 investigation, the DC Sniper, and Saddam Hussein.
Jim started his career in Hollywood on Criminal Minds and the brothers went on to consult, write and produce on numerous broadcast and cable dramas, including CBS’s NCIS: LA, Fox’s Lie to Me and CBS’s The Unit.
The company’s scripted division is headed by former Shane Brennan Productions President Grant Anderson, with the non-scripted division headed by former Pilgrim Media Group exec Josh Murphy. Spencer Gordon negotiated the deal on behalf of XG Productions. XG’s scripted division is repped by Kyle Loftus at APA and Nir Caspi at WME for non-scripted.
“We are thrilled to enter into a first-look partnership with one of the world’s leading studios,” said XG Productions CEO, Peter Clemente. “Given Jim and Tim’s history with CBS hits like CriminalMinds and NCIS: LA, CBS Studios is the ideal home for developing new, authentic crime-related programming, and much more.”
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