Endemol Studios Ties Up with Christina Wayne & Assembly Entertainment

LOS ANGELES: Endemol Studios has signed its first pod deal with Christina Wayne and her Assembly Entertainment outfit to develop and produce scripted projects.

Wayne will develop existing and new projects for Endemol Studios, which is Endemol North America's scripted studio operation based in Los Angeles. This includes MDX, a medical disaster drama that will be produced by Flame Ventures and Tony Krantz. Carol Flint (Royal Pains, ER) will write the pilot and serve as executive producer. Also serving as exec producers are Jonathan Klein, Krantz and Wayne.

Previously, Wayne was president of Cineflix Studios and was an executive producer on Copper for BBC America. She also once served as senior VP of scripted series and mini-series for AMC.

Philippe Maigret, the CEO of Endemol Studios, said: “We are thrilled to open our first pod deal at Endemol Studios with Christina. Her taste in material, her relationships with top talent and her experience as a writer, director, producer and as a network and studio executive will be incredibly valuable as we expand our development slate and build on our ongoing success. We are off to a great start, partnering with Tony Krantz and John Klein to develop MDX with Carol Flint on board to write.” 

Wayne added: “I have always admired Endemol Studios’ scripted business, from my first dealings when I developed Hell on Wheels with them at AMC and, more recently, at Cineflix as a competitor. Endemol has built an impressive scripted business in a short period of time, which is why I am honored to be joining Endemol Studios and their amazing team, led by Philippe, to help them continue to grow their business.”

Krantz commented: "MDX is a dramatic series nod to the classic disaster films of the '70s and '80s, but done real. Today, disasters of all kinds, like hurricanes, cyclones, tsunamis, capsizes and meltdowns, highlight human tragedy and moments of personal triumph and sacrifice. Doing a show of this scale with a truly great company like Endemol, and as one of Christina's first projects at Endemol Studios, is a treat—we hope to bring a level of scope, action and human emotion told through the lens of disaster medicine that a writer and partner like Carol Flint can powerfully bring to the screen."