Legendary Entertainment literary boss Deborah Kaufmann is joining Israeli studio Sipur to run content.
Kaufmann, who brought adaptations of Alchemised and Denis Villeneuve’s Nuclear War: A Scenario during her Legendary tenure, has joined the Bad Boy studio in the newly-created role of Chief of Global Content.
She will oversee a multitude of projects in Sipur’s development pipeline, focusing on identifying and championing IP for audiences worldwide, acquisitions, and creative partnerships across film, television and publishing.
Kaufmann has been with Legendary for a decade, rising up to SVP of Literary Affairs. She shaped IP strategy and was involved with the deal for SenLinYu’s Alchemised, the book that began life as Harry Potter fan fiction, and Annie Jacobsen’s Nuclear War: A Scenario, which is being helmed by Dune auteur Villeneuve.
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Sipur’s credits include Bad Boy, which sold globally to Netflix, Hagai Levi’s Etty and October 7 doc We Will Dance Again. Shari Redstone is chair and recently invested in the studio, which has been positioning itself more globally of late.
Sipur CEO Emilio Schenker said: “Whether in publishing or in film and television, Deborah’s career has been defined by identifying exceptional stories and the people behind them, and ensuring those stories travel powerfully across borders. She is an extraordinary addition to our studio. Deborah brings to us unmatched talent, achievement and industry stature, and with her addition to our team we have gained tremendous strength in realizing our broader ambition of becoming a significant global film and television studio.”