CBS Studios Sets New Venture with Jenny Lumet & Alex Kurtzman

CBS Studios has formed 25 Stories with Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman with the aim of amplifying voices of color and creating new career paths for diverse talent.

Lumet has an overall deal with CBS Studios, as does Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout.

25 Stories will be led by Bruce Evans as executive VP. He co-founded Colour Entertainment, a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of diverse professionals in all aspects of the entertainment community, and most recently served as executive VP of current programming at NBC Entertainment.

“It is imperative for us as a studio to support the growth of diverse storytelling by providing a nurturing environment for creative voices to emerge and thrive,” said David Stapf, president of CBS Studios. “This new imprint is in line with the evolving goals of the studio to be more diverse, thoughtfully inclusive and strategically equitable in telling more kinds of stories.”

“25 Stories began in my kitchen in 2017 during a marathon screenwriting weekend for about 25 women of color, all extraordinary writers,” said Lumet. “I knew I wanted to bring prestige television by writers of color to the marketplace, and I began to think about how to create a space where marginalized voices are centered. A space where both seasoned and newer voices have room to breathe. I thought a lot about scale: intimate stories, family stories, positive stories. I wanted people to emerge from their experience with 25 Stories with the tools to start their own companies. Ultimately, a space that will launch creators. Those 25 writers in my kitchen led me right here.”

Kurtzman added, “I’ve been so lucky to do work I’m proud of in collaboration with brilliant people. The best way to stand up for everything Jenny and I believe in is to stand behind the mission of 25 Stories. Creating a company solely dedicated to this mission felt like an important next step to expand on the work we’ve done at Secret Hideout.”