John Legend Signs Major Production Deal With ABC Studios
John Legend just signed a major production deal with ABC Studios. The EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) winner will develop scripted TV projects exclusively for the network.
The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Legend and his production partners, Mike Jackson and Ty Stiklorius, signed a three-year overall deal with ABC Studios via their Get Lifted Film Co. Their company will work on scripted projects for all of ABC’s entertainment platforms.
Disney is the parent company of ABC Television.
“We here at Get Lifted Film Co. are thrilled to be working with ABC Studios and welcome the opportunity to tell remarkable stories that resonate with our growing audience,” Jackson said in a statement, as noted by THR.
“John Legend and his Get Lifted partners, Mike Jackson, and Ty Stiklorius, have a strong, contemporary point of view. Their enormous success is no surprise considering their excellent taste and ability to tell stories that are timely and unique,” said ABC Studios president Patrick Moran.
Legend and his partners, according to The Hollywood Reporter, have been behind the live production of Jesus Christ Superstar, the films La La Land, Monster, and Southside with You, the story of Michelle and Barack Obama’s love affair.
The multi-talented performer has exploded into his own powerful entertainment force over the past several years since the debut of his first album Get Lifted in 2004, which won three Grammy Awards.
His second album, Once Again, was released in 2006, and his third, Evolver, dropped in 2008.
Biography noted that in 2010, Legend released an album with the Roots, who are now known as the house band for Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, titled Wake Up!, which also won a Grammy in 2011. It was in 2013 that Legend’s hard work and dedication paid off, with the release of the album Love in the Future and the hit song “All of Me,” which he penned for then-girlfriend Chrissy Teigen. John Legend, thus far, has won 10 Grammy Awards.
He and Teigen would marry in 2013. The couple would go on to have two children, Luna and Miles.
Legend is the youngest person and the first African-American man to become an EGOT winner. He cemented his place in entertainment history with an Emmy win for producing the live performance of the Andrew Lloyd Webber play Jesus Christ Superstar, his aforementioned Grammy wins, an Oscar for Best Original Song for the film Selma, and a Tony for Best Revival of a Play with his production of August Wilson’s Jitney, reported Country Living Magazine.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, other EGOT winners aside from Legend include Richard Rodgers, Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, John Gielgud, Audrey Hepburn, Marvin Hamlisch, Jonathan Tunick, Mel Brooks, Mike Nichols, Whoopi Goldberg, Scott Rudin, Robert Lopez, Tim Rice, and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
