EXCLUSIVE: There is a change at the helm of Fox‘s Memory of a Killer. Aaron Zelman (Lucky Hank, Resurrection) and Glenn Kessler (Damages, Bloodline) have been named new co-showrunners of the upcoming thriller drama starring Patrick Dempsey, which received a straight-to-series order in May.
They replace in the role the project’s developers, British writers Ed Whitmore and Tracey Malone, and New Amsterdam creator David Schulner, who have stepped down as co-showrunners.
Memory of a Killer, inspired by the 2003 Belgian film De Zaak Alzheimer, is currently filming Episode 6 of its 10-episode order. The series, which paused filming to catch up on scripts prior to the showrunner switch, remains on track for a January premiere, sources said.
There has been no production stop related to the showrunner transition, which I hear occurred in the past couple of weeks, though additional scenes for the completed episodes are being written and will be shot soon.
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Kessler originally joined Memory of a Killer as a consulting producer in early October, working on character development with star/executive producer Dempsey as well as on the show as a whole with its creative team.
Zelman and Kessler have a long history together — Aaron Zelman’s brother, writer-producer Daniel Zelman, co-created/executive produced two series with Glenn Kessler and his brother Todd A. Kessler, on which Aaron also worked, Damages for FX and Bloodline for Netflix.
With Kessler already working on Memory of a Killer, when Zelman was approached last month to become new showrunner, I hear he asked to share the duties with Kessler, leading to the latter’s promotion from consulting to executive producer.
Zelman and Kessler executive produce alongside Whitmore, Malone, Schulner, Dempsey and Cathy Schulman. Arthur Sarkissian and Martin Campbell are also executive producers, along with Peter Bouckaert of Eyeworks.
Memory of a Killer, produced by Warner Bros. Television and Fox Entertainment, stars Dempsey as Angelo Ledda, a hitman leading a dangerous double life while hiding an even deadlier personal secret — he has developed early onset Alzheimer’s. Michael Imperioli plays Dutch, Angelo’s oldest friend and an accomplished chef whose restaurant is a front for a criminal enterprise.
The cast also includes Richard Harmon as Joe, a hitman; Odeya Rush as Maria, Angelo’s daughter; Daniel David Stewart as Jeff, Maria’s husband; Peter Gadiot as Dave, a local police detective and Gina Torres as Special Agent Linda Grant.
Fox released the first promo for the series during its coverage of Game 1 of the World Series. You can watch it below:
It’s not a hard-and-fast rule but shows with straight-to-series orders tend to go through more growing pains and staffing changes pre-launch than those that have done a pilot. CBS’ FBI offshoot CIA is dealing with similar issues; it just replaced its showrunner and is in the process of recasting a main role.
Kessler and Zelman shared in Damages’ Outstanding Drama Series Emmy nomination in 2009. Zelman also shared in the 2017 Outstanding Comedy Series nomination for HBO’s Silicon Valley, on which he was a writer producer. Additionally, Zelman developed/executive produced ABC’s Resurrection and co-created/executive produced AMC’s Lucky Hank starring Bob Odenkirk. Kessler recently served as executive producer on Apple TV+’s The Last Frontier. Zelman is repped by UTA and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher. Kessler is with Gendler, Kelly & Cunningham.