Fox Entertainment Studios strikes Cottage Industry deal

Fox Entertainment Studios has struck a first-look development and producing deal with female-driven storytelling firm Cottage Industry Entertainment, with a slate of scripted TV series in the works.

Cottage Industry was founded by former Hallmark Media exec Lisa Hamilton Daly and Warner Bros alum Alysia Cotter Thomas.

The deal encompasses a slate of scripted TV series and feature films based on both original projects and literary adaptations, including The Whittiers, the New York Times bestselling novel by Danielle Steel, which Fox recently optioned.

Other TV projects include: Summer on Lilac Island, based on Lindsay MacMillan’s novel with Delondra Mesa attached to write; comedy Mom’s Place from Angela Kinsey (The Office) and Audrey Wauchope; and an untitled one-hour family drama from writer Jordanna Fraiberg.

Cottage Industry focuses on romantic comedies, family dramas, mysteries, thrillers and other broad-appeal genres. Before co-founding the company, Hamilton Daly was exec vice president of programming at Hallmark in the US, and also worked as director of original series at Netflix with credits on Virgin River and Sweet Magnolias.

Cotter Thomas was previously a creative executive at Warner Bros working on projects such as A Cinderella Story with Hilary Duff and 300 with Zack Snyder. She was then vice president at Legendary Entertainment, before becoming vice president of creative affairs at Working Title in London and most recently a literary agent at Paradigm.

“Lisa and Alysia bring a terrific combination of creative instincts, industry experience, and a real understanding of what connects with audiences,” said Hannah Pillemer, head of scripted at FES.

Hamilton Daly and Cotter Thomas added: “We share a belief in stories that entertain, move people, and keep audiences coming back, whether that’s a compelling family drama, a smart romantic comedy, or a suspenseful thriller.

“Hannah and her team understand both the creative and business sides of what we’re building, and we’re looking forward to continuing to develop projects together across television and film.”