Matt Hastings inks first-look deal with Neshama Entertainment
The Way Home producer Neshama Entertainment has set a first-look pact with writer, director and showrunner Matt Hastings.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
2 min read
Matt Hastings has landed a first-look development and production deal with Neshama Entertainment, the Canadian company known for Hallmark Channel’s drama The Way Home, Deadline reported.
The pact gives Hastings, a writer, director and showrunner, a lane to develop and produce original projects for Neshama across television and film. Deadline reported that the work will cover both scripted and unscripted programming.
Fox Entertainment Global will handle international distribution for the projects, according to Deadline. Fox owns a stake in Toronto-based Neshama and manages global sales of the company’s productions, while Neshama retains local rights, the outlet reported.
Hastings brings a long TV résumé
Hastings’ credits include the Emmy-winning Fallen, Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Apple TV’s Circuit Breakers, Deadline reported. His wider résumé also includes Shadowhunters, The Originals, Eureka and Alphas.
Across television and feature films, Hastings has produced more than 300 hours of screen content, according to Deadline.
Dayna Zipursky, executive vice president at Neshama, praised Hastings’ ability to create emotional, commercially appealing worlds and said the company is looking ahead to building a slate of original scripted projects with him, Deadline reported.
Hastings said in a statement reported by Deadline that he is drawn to emotionally honest stories told on a broad cinematic scale. He also pointed to Neshama and Fox Entertainment Global’s ambitions in film and television, along with Fox’s distribution reach, as reasons for entering the partnership.
Neshama’s Fox-backed push
The agreement is the latest move for Neshama under its relationship with Fox. Deadline previously reported that Fox’s investment in the company included an arrangement for the U.S. studio to sell Neshama productions internationally.
Neshama has also been building out other projects. Deadline reported last year that the company was working with showrunner Scott Rosenbaum on a television adaptation of Maureen Callahan’s book American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century.
The company has also cast Emily VanCamp in Prejudice, a Crave series about a sex worker who becomes a litigator, according to Deadline. Fox is shopping the series, the outlet reported.
Hastings is represented by The Gotham Group and Bob Getman at Jackoway Austen, Deadline reported.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.