Barry Sonnenfeld lands at ABC

Producer-director Barry Sonnenfeld is setting up shop at ABC, with a two-year, first-look deal with the network and ABC Studios. Under the pact, Sonnenfeld will develop projects for ABC and will direct a pilot for the network during pilot season, while being available to helm pilots for other nets off-cycle.

Under the ABC/ABC Studios deal, Sonnenfeld already has teamed with former ABC executive-turned-producer Stu Bloomberg for a high-concept multicamera project. The untitled comedy, from writer Laura House, has received a script commitment. It centers on a harried mom who finds a suit that turns her into a “supermom” when she puts it on. Bloomberg and Sonnenfeld are executive producing, with Sonnenfeld also attached to direct.

Sonnenfeld has a long history at ABC, where four of his five TV series have aired: Fantasy Island, Maximum Bob (which I loved), Notes From the Underbelly and Pushing Daisies. His directing work on Pushing Daisies earned him an Emmy Award in 2008.

Separate from his development for ABC, the director of the blockbuster feature Men in Black has a project in contention at CBS, which was developed last year under his previous deal at Sony Pictures TV. The comedy, based on the book Things a Man Should Never Do Past 30 by Esquire articles editor David Katz, is being reworked at CBS and Sony as a multicamera comedy with a new writer, David Litt (The Big Bang Theory).

(Source: THR)