{"id":711866,"date":"2026-06-18T17:15:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T17:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/711866\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T17:15:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T17:15:14","slug":"quinta-brunson-inks-big-overall-deal-with-20th-tv-leaves-warner-bros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/711866\/","title":{"rendered":"Quinta Brunson Inks Big Overall Deal With 20th TV; Leaves Warner Bros"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEXCLUSIVE: In the highest profile showrunner move so far this year, Abbott Elementary<\/a> creator, executive producer and star Quinta Brunson<\/a> has signed a big, five-year overall deal with 20th Television<\/a> for her Fifth Chance Productions. She is coming off a four-year overall deal at Warner Bros. Television, which produces the Emmy-winning ABC comedy in association with 20th TV, a part of Disney Television Studios.<\/p>\n

\n\tUnder the new pact, Brunson will write, develop and executive produce series across Disney Entertainment Television<\/a>\u2019s brands and platforms via her banner Fifth Chance Productions led by Head of Creative Affairs Erin Wehrenberg.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis marks a rare studio switch by a creator whose series is at the height of its popularity. Going to Disney will keep Brunson in the Abbott family as she will be based at the series\u2019 co-producer 20th TV, with the show\u2019s network, ABC, also a Disney corporate sibling. Abbott Elementary, broadcast\u2019s No.1 comedy in young demos and streaming viewership, is heading into its sixth season this fall as a rare series that still produces 22 episodes a year. It has won four Emmys to date, including two for Brunson, for writing and Lead Actress In a Comedy Series. <\/p>\n

\n\tBrunson\u2019s relocation, a major coup for Disney, comes amid uncertainty surrounding the future of Warner Bros. whose parent Warner Bros. Discovery is in the process of being acquired by the David Ellison-led Paramount. Mergers and the unknowns associated with them can create major dilemmas for talent whose deals are up and they have to commit to a home for years to come. In a similar situation in 2018, Ryan Murphy left his longtime home 20th Century Fox Television for an overall deal at Netflix<\/a> while Disney\u2019s acquisition of Fox assets, including the TV studio, was pending. (He has since returned to Disney-owned 20th TV.)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cQuinta is a cultural force and one of the most original and influential storytellers in entertainment today. Through Abbott Elementary, she has redefined the half-hour comedy and built one of television\u2019s most beloved and acclaimed series,\u201d said Debra OConnell, Chairman, Disney Entertainment Television. \u201cWe\u2019re proud to expand our partnership and continue investing in Quinta\u2019s extraordinary creative future as she brings new stories to fans across our iconic brands and platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBrunson has an eight-season acting deal on Abbott, and she is locked in as an executive producer for the life of the series. She continues as co-showrunner alongside fellow executive producers Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker who are under an overall deal at WBTV. She will now carry on with her duties on the show while also ramping up Fifth Chance, which got off the ground a year ago with the hire of Wehrenberg<\/a>, at 20th TV. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI am so grateful to work alongside Disney, Warner Bros. Television, and 20th Television on Abbott Elementary. Building this show together has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career, and I am incredibly proud of what we\u2019ve accomplished through this partnership,\u201d Brunson said. \u201cAs we continue to grow and evolve the series, I\u2019m thrilled to officially establish Fifth Chance under the Disney and 20th Television banner. This partnership represents an exciting next chapter for me as a creator, producer, and storyteller, and I look forward to developing new projects with the incredible teams at Disney and 20th Television. I\u2019m deeply thankful to Dana Walden, Debra OConnell, Craig Erwich, Karey Burke, and everyone who has supported our vision and placed their trust in me and my team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAt 20th TV, Brunson previously guest starred on New Girl and did a multi-episode arc on the studio\u2019s ABC comedy series Single Parents. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Abbott<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Abbott Elementary\u2019: Janelle James as Ava, Chris Perfetti as Jacob, Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara, Quinta Brunson as Janine, Tyler James Williams as Gregory, William Stanford Davis as Mr. Johnson, and Lisa Ann Walter as Melissa<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDisney \/ Sami Drasin<\/p>\n

\n\tWarner Bros. TV cast Brunson in its 2018 CW pilot The End of the World as We Know It and tapped her for a recurring role on its CW series iZombie before developing Abbott Elementary with her.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s been a tremendous honor to work with Quinta, truly one of the industry\u2019s most visionary creators,\u201d said Channing Dungey, Chairman and CEO, Warner Bros. Television Group and WBD US Networks. \u201cWe look forward to working with her and Disney on many more seasons of the highly acclaimed Abbott Elementary, and wish Quinta nothing but the best in all her future endeavors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor the 2025-26 broadcast season, Abbott Elementary is TV\u2019s No. 1 comedy among Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34 in multiplatform viewing over 35 days, according to Nielsen. It is also the most streamed comedy across broadcast in total viewers, Adults 18-49 and Teens 12-17 in multiplatform viewing over seven days and 35 days. The series\u2019 awards haul to date also includes three Golden Globes and a Peabody Award. <\/p>\n

\n\tBrunson is repped by WME, Strig Artist Management, and attorneys Lily G. Tillers and Nina Shaw at Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein Lezcano Bobb & Dang.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: In the highest profile showrunner move so far this year, Abbott Elementary creator, executive producer and star…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":711867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[26764,13279,236,150852,88,87041],"class_list":["post-711866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-20th-television","tag-abbott-elementary","tag-celebrities","tag-disney-entertainment-television","tag-entertainment","tag-quinta-brunson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/711867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}