We have secured a first look and development deal in television with Fruit Tree, the production company from two-time Academy Award winning actress and producer Emma Stone (Poor Things, La La Land) and Emmy-nominated writer, producer and director Dave McCary (Saturday Night Live, Brigsby Bear).
The partnership was spearheaded by Christian Vesper, our CEO Global Drama and Film, and COO Global Drama and Film Seb Shorr, and by Lorenzo De Maio, President, De Maio Entertainment, who introduced the opportunity to Fremantle. The deal was negotiated by Fran Denny (VP Commercial Global Drama) and Jodie Rosello (EVP Scripted Business & Legal Affairs) on behalf of Fremantle, and PJ Shapiro (JSSK) acting on behalf of Fruit Tree.
Fremantle will become the primary home for all of Fruit Tree’s scripted television projects and unscripted docuseries, and we will work closely with our Global Drama division and international distribution team to grow our slate and expand into new territories worldwide. Vesper and Shorr will oversee the Fruit Tree partnership together with Lorenzo De Maio and Evan Gelb from De Maio Entertainment who will be strategic advisors across Fruit Tree’s slate and will be the primary point of contact in the US.
Founded by Stone and McCary in August 2020, and joined soon after by the company’s President Ali Herting, Fruit Tree’s first TV projects were critically acclaimed series’ The Curse (Showtime), a 10-episode satirical thriller in which Stone starred alongside co-creators Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie, and Fantasmas - a six-episode surrealist comedy for HBO, starring creator Julio Torres (Saturday Night Live, Problemista). They will next produce The Yogurt Shop Murders, a documentary series directed by Margaret Brown for HBO.
Fruit Tree’s film projects include Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain, Julio Torres’ Problemista, and Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow. Their upcoming film projects include Bugonia, starring Emma Stone and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos for Focus Features; Checkmate, directed by Nathan Fielder for A24, Jesse Eisenberg’s Untitled Musical Comedy starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti and Dave McCary’s Untitled Feature Film with Universal.
Emma Stone, Dave McCary and Ali Herting said: “We’re thrilled to join forces with the brilliant team at Fremantle, a studio that continues to be at the forefront of independent television with a deep commitment to inventive storytelling. We’re so excited to build a creative home together and develop original narratives that challenge expectation and resonate with audiences worldwide.”
Andrea Scrosati, Group COO and CEO of Continental Europe, Fremantle, said: “The foundation of what we do at Fremantle is based on partnering with the best creative minds across the world. A collaboration with exceptional talent like Emma, Dave and Ali is a perfect example of this strategy in action. I look forward to the great stories that Fremantle and Fruit Tree will build together!”
Christian Vesper, CEO Global Drama and Film, Fremantle, said: “I’m so thrilled to be welcoming Emma, Dave and the whole team at Fruit Tree to the Fremantle fold. The combination of Emma’s indisputable talent and Dave’s sharp creative sensibility makes them a force to be reckoned with and I look forward to pushing boundaries even further together.”
The partnership marks the latest in a line of strategic global collaborations between Fremantle and some of the industry’s most visionary creative talent, with other first look deals in place spanning the likes of Kristen Stewart’s Nevermind Pictures, Edward Berger and his label Nine Hours, Rachel Weisz and Polly Stokes’ Astral Projection, Stefano Sollima, Gina Gardini and Ludovico Purgatori’s AlterEgo, BAFTA-winning Me+You Productions and Roughcut Television, Fudge Park, Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín’s Fabula, Luca Guadagnino, Paolo Sorrentino, Johan Renck and Michael Parets’ Sinestra.
