EXCLUSIVE: Yellowjackets co-showrunner and executive producer Jonathan Lisco has signed an overall deal with Warner Bros. Television and HBO Max.
Per WBD practice, terms were not disclosed; however, WBTV and HBO Max confirm that it is an exclusive, multi-year pact for Lisco to develop and produce new television projects.
Outside of the agreement, Lisco will continue to consult and EP on Season 4 of Yellowjackets. In addition to his co-showrunner and EP duties, Lisco served as writer and director on the Showtime hit for its first three seasons under an overall with the network, during which the series received ten Emmy nominations—including Best Drama and Best Writing for a Drama Series—the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Horror Series and a GLAAD Award. It also received nominations from the WGA, Peabody Awards, Gotham Awards, and TCA Awards.
Created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, Yellowjackets is the saga of a team of high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the remote northern wilderness. Equal parts survival epic, psychological horror story and coming-of-age drama, the series chronicles their descent from a complicated but thriving team to savage clans, while also tracking the lives they’ve attempted to piece back together nearly 25 years later, proving that the past is never really past and what began out in the wilderness is far from over.
The Season 3 cast includes Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci, Tawny Cypress, Lauren Ambrose, Sophie Nélisse, and Jasmin Savoy Brown. Elijah Wood appeared in a recurring role, and Hilary Swank guest-starred.
The thriller drama was renewed in May for a fourth season, with Deadline reporting that the April 13 season finale became the most-streamed Yellowjackets episode in the series’ history, reaching 3 million global viewers in seven days across linear and streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime, as per parent company Paramount Global.
While this marks Lisco’s first overall deal with WBTV, he and the studio have worked on several notable series over the years, including the Shawn Hatosy-led Animal Kingdom for TNT, which Lisco developed for television and served as showrunner. He was also the showrunner and an executive producer on the WBTV-produced Southland for TNT, for which he received a Peabody Award.
He previously had an overall deal with AMC, where he was a showrunner and executive producer of Halt and Catch Fire. He also created and executive produced Fox’s K-Ville, which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Lisco has also produced numerous episodes of CBS’s The District and WBTV’s Jack & Bobby for The WB.
In 2022, he was honored as “Showrunner of the Year” at the Banff World Media Festival.
A former attorney in New York City, Lisco began his television career as a staff writer on ABC’s Emmy Award-winning series NYPD Blue, created by the late Steven Bochco and David Milch.
He is represented by UTA and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller.
