Reese Witherspoon & Bruna Papandrea’s Pacific Standard Inks ABC Studios Deal

Reese Witherspoon and Bruna Papandrea’s three-year-old production company Pacific Standard is making a foray into broadcast television with an overall deal at ABC Studios. The two-year pact, which is exclusive in broadcast, comes on the heels of Pacific Standard’s first TV greenlight, for limited series Big Little Lies, which recently received a straight-to-series order at HBO. The adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s best-selling novel, written by David E Kelley, stars Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman.

Under the deal with ABC Studios, which is run by EVP Patrick Moran, Witherspoon and Papandrea plan to hire a dedicated TV executive to work alongside Pacific Standard creative executive Jeanne Snow.

ABC Studios, home of such female-centered dramas as Scandal, How To Get Away With Murder, recently departed Revenge and the upcoming Quantico, toplined by Priyanka Chopra, is a good fit for Witherspoon and Papandrea, who have built their company with the goal of helping make films with strong female leads. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Patrick and his team at ABC Studios, a company who genuinely share our goal of creating great roles for women, ” Witherspoon and Papandrea said.

Since Pacific Standard Films’ launch in 2012, the company produced features Wild, which earned Witherspoon an Oscar nomination, David Fincher’s thriller Gone Girl, as well as the Warner Bros. summer comedy Hot Pursuit. The company also will produce Disney’s Tink, a live-action take on the classic Peter Pan character Tinker Bell, in which Witherspoon will star in the title role, and Pale Blue Dot at Fox Searchlight. Pacific Standard’s feature development slate also includes Ashley’s War at Fox 2000, Luckiest Girl Alive at Lionsgate, and All Is Not Forgotten at Warner Bros.

In TV, the company has Supreme Courtship, an adaptation of the book by Christopher Buckley, set up at Sony Pictures TV’s TriStar Television.

“As evidenced by Reese and Bruna’s award-winning film track record, their eye for material is unparalleled,” Moran said. “We’re very excited to be their television partners.”

The deal was brokered by CAA.

– Deadline