EXCLUSIVE: Liz Meriwether‘s tenure at 20th Television is set to cross the 20-year mark as the New Girl creator has signed a new overall deal at the studio, part of Disney Television Studios.
Meriwether was a New York playwright when she sold a comedy project to 20th TV, which made it to a pilot at Fox in 2007. She followed that up by creating, executive producing and showrunning the studio’s hit comedy New Girl, also for Fox, as well as other series under a string of overall pacts at 20th TV.
After more than a decade working almost exclusively in network comedy with such 20th TV shows as ABC’s Bless This Mess and Single Parents, Meriwether made the move to dramatic streaming fare with the 2022 The Dropout at Hulu, starring Amanda Seyfried in an Emmy-winning role, which she created and executive produced.
Meriwether went on to co-create and executive produce FX on Hulu’s Dying for Sex, which earned star Michelle Williams a Golden Globe and Actor awards and won the WGA Award for Limited Series on Sunday. Both The Dropout and Dying For Sex landed Meriwether Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series as well as writing Emmy nominations.
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Currently, she is in production on her next 20th TV series for Hulu, psychological thriller Furious starring Emmy Rossum loosely inspired by the 1987 movie Black Widow.
“Liz is a once-in-a-generation voice, who captivates fans with each story she brings to life,” said 20th Television President Karey Burke. “Her heart is massive, her humor is razor-sharp, and her storytelling is extraordinary. We are beyond lucky that she will continue to call Disney her creative home, where she has been for so many chapters of her life.”
Under the new multi-year pact, Meriwether will continue to write, develop and produce series for all linear networks and streamers, with an emphasis on platforms across Disney Entertainment Television.
“I feel forever grateful for the support of Dana Walden, Eric Schrier, Karey Burke, Carolyn Cassidy and everyone at 20th TV, and I’m so thrilled I get to keep making television at the studio where I have worked, laughed, cursed, cried, and occasionally slept for my entire career,” Meriwether said.
Walden, now President and Chief Creative Officer of Disney, who co-ran 20th TV when Meriwether started at the studio, referenced the sleepless nights early into the writer-producer’s tenure when announcing Meriwether’s four-year overall deal renewal in 2019. “Twelve years ago, when we first met, Liz was a wildly funny and talented playwright from New York, who was so dedicated to getting the characters and humor in her scripts exactly right, she’d often pull all nighters and sleep in her office,” Walden said at the time, calling Meriwether “outrageously funny, endlessly creative, wildly prolific and also one of the greatest people you’ll ever have the good fortune to know.”
Meriwether is repped by WME and McKuin Frankel & Whitehead.