Reginald Hudlin & Byron Phillips Strike First-Look Non-Scripted Deal With Fremantle’s Original Productions
Written by Peter White for deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Reginald Hudlin and Byron Phillips have struck a first-look deal with Original Productions after teaming up on Amazon documentary series Phat Tuesdays: The Era of Hip Hop Comedy.
The Fremantle-backed production company has signed the deal with Hudlin Entertainment and Phillips with plans to expand on the comedy docuseries.
The pair will develop and exec produce non-scripted shows with the Deadliest Catch producer. It follows the launch of Phat Tuesdays, which told the story of Black comedians at The Comedy Store in ‘90s Los Angeles.
Hudlin and Phillips have produced the Primetime Emmys together since 2020 as well as documentaries such as The Black Godfather. Hudlin has also directed documentaries such as Apple’s Sidney and comedy feature House Party. He has a scripted first-look deal with UCP. Phillips is the producer of a number of live events including the Oscars and NAACP Image Awards.
Original Productions is behind the upcoming Dan Rather documentary, Netflix’s Waco: American Apocalypse in addition to Deadliest Catch and Bering Sea Gold.
“When we began our collaboration on Phat Tuesdays, it was exciting to see that Reggie and Byron shared a sensibility for the kind of big, bold storytelling that has been the hallmark of our evolution at OP,” said Jeff Hasler, President of Original Productions. “The deeper we got into our collaboration and discussing new ideas, the more motivated we all became about finding a way to let our partnership flourish. Continuing to support Reggie and Byron’s unique voice and perspective on the kind of stories we all want to tell is a dream come true for us at OP.”
“We had a great experience making Phat Tuesdays with Fremantle and it felt like a no brainer to expand our relationship,” added Reggie Hudlin. “While we were finishing that project, we kept coming up with new ideas that we were excited to collaborate on. I’m looking forward to what’s next.”
“We are thrilled to enter into a partnership with Fremantle/OP. Jennifer Mullin and Jeff Hasler have been so supportive of our creative vision and the range of content we look forward to producing. It is rare to find executives that do everything in their power to clear the obstacles that get in the way of the creative process. Jen and Jeff are both unique executives and extraordinary human beings,” said Byron Phillips.
