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The super-producer’s new pact makes the long tail of his programming a key metric of success.
By Lesley Goldberg
Television Editor, West Coast
Greg Berlanti believes in the traditional studio model so much so that it’s the focal point of his new overall deal with Warner Bros. Television.
The prolific producer, who holds the record for the most scripted originals on the air or in the works at the same time, signed a new, four-year overall deal with his longtime home at WBTV that will see him rewarded in step with the studio. The new agreement — which begins in 2024 after his current pact expires — will see Berlanti and the studio be compensated for the success of the shows he delivers rather than his record output.
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Berlanti is currently in the last two years of the four-year extension he signed with WBTV back in June 2018. Under that $400 million deal, Warners bought out the back-end on Berlanti’s DC Comics shows that were produced for The CW (Arrow, The Flash, etc.) as the WME-negotiated deal also included bonuses for the number of shows the super-producer delivered for the studio.
Under the pact steered by Berlanti’s new CAA team led by Joe Cohen, Berlanti Productions will serve more as a studio within Warners and be compensated in tandem with the studio based on the success of the content he delivers — harkening back to the pre-streaming days when secondary revenue sources and residuals were key components of dealmaking. Sources say Warners simplified the deal to remove separate accounting for individual programs and opted instead to focus on the potential legacy value of the next wave of content Berlanti delivers.
Sources close to the showrunner note that Berlanti is increasingly focused on delivering fare like HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant — which broke through with a dozen Emmy nominations — and Netflix’s You, which continues to rack up big viewing figures at the streamer after failing to find an audience on Lifetime. Sources also note that while Berlanti helped launch the wave of comic book TV series with DC hits including Arrow and Superman & Lois, DC Comics fare will not be the focal point of his new deal with Warners. (Reps for Berlanti, Warners and DC all declined comment.)
By betting on the studio system, Berlanti is placing an emphasis on the legacy value of his output as much as its initial success. Under Channing Dungey and her top lieutenant, Brett Paul, Warners continues to serve as a content supplier for corporate siblings HBO and HBO Max while also selling to outside buyers (like Apple and Netflix). Once the streaming window on a show expires, Warners retains the rights to the program and can sell it domestically and internationally — thus paving the way for Berlanti to cash in on his next wave of hits. Think of Friends and The Big Bang Theory as prime examples. Once the current streaming deal with HBO Max expires for both shows, Warners will profit again by selling those shows in perpetuity.
Berlanti, who is currently in Atlanta directing Apple’s Project Artemis, is also expected to focus more on creating scripted originals under his new deal as The CW shifts its business model to profitability and what sources say will be fewer than five U.S. scripted originals. That’s not to say he won’t continue to oversee the next generation of showrunners, with the likes of Berlanti Productions shows including HBO Max’s Dead Boy Detectives, The Girls on the Bus and More, among others.
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