Universal International Studios seeks new talent, signs up Quoc Dang Tran

SERIES MANIA: Universal International Studios aims to expand by signing up leading talent in various territories, having agreed a first-look deal with Call My Agent! writer Quoc Dang Tran.

Quoc Dang Tran

The We Are Lady Parts producer’s president, Beatrice Springborn, told delegates at Series Mania that talent was the driving force behind working in new territories, revealing that more deals “in territories like Spain” will be announced in the coming months.

“We’re obviously looking to expand into different territories, but it’s driven by the talent that is in those territories. So we don’t say necessarily we want to go to Spain, or we want to go to Italy, we say ‘who’s the great talent there?’ It’s driven by who we are excited to be in business with, versus ‘let’s pick a territory,’” she added.

Universal International Studios tends to offer deals to talent who have been recommended, Springborn said.

“[Deals come from] referrals from other talent. There are so many deals we’ve done across the studio where a showrunner has come to us and said, ‘I really love this writer in this writers’ room. You should get to know them,’” the exec added.

Beatrice Springborn

“Other times it’s just a sample script which ends up being something amazing. We watch a lot of films, we read a lot of books, we read a lot plays and theatre. So it’s across the board in terms of how we’re discovering talent.”

Springborn’s keynote address at the event, held in the French city of Lille, came just after Universal International Studios unveiled a new partnership with Quoc Dang Tran.

The French-Vietnamese writer will develop and produce English- and French-language television content with the studio for the global market, with projects to be coproduced along with Dang Tran’s production company Daïmôn Films.

Dang Tran’s writing credits include French comedy Call My Agent! and Netflix horror Marianne. He also created limited series Nox for Canal+ and Disney+’s first French-language series Parallèles, which is premiering at Series Mania.