Netflix steals ‘Glee’ creator Murphy
In another shock to the traditional TV ecosystem, prolific producer Ryan Murphy of ‘Glee’ and ‘American Horror Story’ fame is moving to Netflix under a record-setting deal valued at $250 million to $300 million.
The five-year pact calls for the showrunner to produce new series and films exclusively for Netflix. The deal starts July 1, when his current deal with 20th Century Fox TV expires.
“Ryan Murphy’s series have influenced the global cultural zeitgeist, reinvented genres and changed the course of television history. His unfaltering dedication to excellence and to give voice to the underrepresented, to showcase a unique perspective or just to shock the hell out of us, permeates his genre-shattering work,” said Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos.
The deal is a blow to Disney. Murphy was personally courted by Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger to join the enlarged studio. Murphy has been a reliable hit-maker for Fox and FX, and Iger had hoped to keep him in the fold.
Murphy had already gone into business with Netflix on two series that were set up during the past few months: “Ratched,” an origins story for the Nurse Ratched character from “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” and “The Politician,” a political satire.
Murphy’s decision to shift his overall deal to Netflix is another sign of the streaming service’s immense market power. In August, Netflix signed a megabucks deal to put Shonda Rhimes, ABC’s most prominent producer, under an exclusive production pact.