Skydance Ties Up with Patrick Massett & John Zinman

Skydance Television has entered into a multiyear overall agreement with writer-producers Patrick Massett and John Zinman (Friday Night Lights, The Blacklist, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider).

The studio currently has several projects in development with the pair, including the first-ever live-action TV series for Sword Art Online (SAO), the massive Japanese novel and anime franchise to which Skydance acquired the global rights last year. Massett and Zinman will serve as writers, showrunners and executive producers on the Skydance series.

Together with Massett and Zinman, Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar, Altered Carbon) will write the pilot episode and serve as an executive producer on the SAO series alongside David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Marcy Ross. Kalogridis, who has an exclusive overall deal at Skydance, introduced the studio to the property and the world of SAO.

“Patrick and John have shown incredible range in their storytelling capabilities, from subtle character drama to big, world-building action, and we are beyond fortunate that they have joined the Skydance family,” said Skydance Television President Marcy Ross. “We’re already deep in development with Patrick, John, and Laeta on our larger than life Skydance SAO series, in which we aim not only to satisfy the franchise’s enthusiastic sci-fi and anime fan base but also to appeal to new TV audiences the world over.”

Massett and Zinman commented: “The fantastical world of SAO offers an unparalleled opportunity to tell stories that resonate on both an epic and human scale. We couldn’t ask for better partners than Skydance and Laeta to help us bring this global pop culture phenomenon to new life on television.”