Wyatt Cenac Signs Overall Deal With Warner Bros Animation & Cartoon Network Studios
With everyone and their mother's dog now having their own streaming service, media companies are in a scramble to provide stuff to put on them. Licensing content with an existing audience may be a good way to attract new subscribers, but if the companies produce new shows and movies themselves they can be sure they own them outright and they aren't at risk of being removed at a future date. There's also been a rise in companies signing overall deals with talents, making sure they get the first refusal rights on anything they create during that period.
WarnerMedia has already signed several such deals with creators, including some directly related to animation. Warner Bros Animation and Cartoon Network Studios have announced that they have just signed a new cross-studio, multi-year overall deal with Emmy-winning writer, producer and performer Wyatt Cenac. Cenac got started as a staff writer on primetime animation King Of The Hill and went on to write for The Daily Show and write and front several of his own series. As an actor, he has appeared in Maron, Inside Amy Schumer and The Eric Andre Show, and appeared as a voice performer in multiple animated series including King Of The Hill, The Venture Bros, The Shivering Truth, and Bob's Burgers.
Under the deal, Cenac will develop and produce content as both studios, intended for a wide variety of audiences including adults, families, kids and preschool. The series (or films, or specials) will also be intended for all WarnerMedia platforms, across broadcast and streaming, as well as external outlets and partners. This is the second overall deal signed by WBA and CNS, following Looney Tunes Cartoons producer and showrunner Pete Browngardt.
Cenac will be free to develop both completely original projects and projects drawn from the extensive library of characters and franchises in the WarnerMedia vault. Cenac's career to date is evidence that he will flourish in producing adult-audience and general/family audience productions, but we are curious to see what a Wyatt Cenac kids' show is going to turn out like.
WBA and CNS president Sam Register said: "It is a huge win to have someone as funny, insightful, and unique as Wyatt join us at the studios. His creative voice further expands the variety of stories we can tell, and I look forward to a great partnership."
Wyatt Cenac added: "All that time I spent watching cartoons instead of doing my homework is finally starting to pay off. Thank goodness (and I suppose WBA too)". See kids? Watching cartoons is good for you.
