Jon Stewart Sets Showrunner, Creative Team for Apple Current Event Series
Jon Stewart has lined up the key creative team for his upcoming Apple current events series.
Brinda Adhikari, Chelsea Devantez and Lorrie Baranek have all joined the untitled show. Adhikari will serve as an executive producer and showrunner, Devantez as head writer, and Baranek as the executive in charge of production.
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Adhikari is a highly-regarded news producer who has previously worked with luminaries such as Diane Sawyer, David Muir, Norah O’Donnell, and Scott Pelley. Her story with O’Donnell on the treatment of migrant children at U.S. detention facilities along the Mexico border won her a 2020 Edward R. Murrow Award for best newscast.
She is repped by UTA.
Devantez has a history with Stewart, having started her TV writing career on “The Daily Show” at Comedy Central during Stewart’s tenure as host. Her other TV credits include the upcoming Tina Fey-Robert Carlock series “Girls5Eva” at Peacock, “Bless This Mess,” “Abby’s,” and “The Opposition with Jordan Klepper.” She recently wrote, directed and starred in the original film “Basic,” an official selection of SXSW 2020.
She is repped by UTA, Color Creative and Hansen Jacobson.
Baranek has worked in television for over two decades across a wide variety of formats and genres. Her recent credits include “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman,” “The Break with Michelle Wolf,” “The President Show” and “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.”
Stewart’s Apple series, which was first announced back in October, will explore topics that are part of the national conversation as well as Stewart’s advocacy work.
Stewart will host the series in addition to executive producing under Busboy Productions banner, which is currently under a first-look deal with Apple. Richard Plepler of EDEN Productions will also executive produce under the company’s Apple overall deal, with James Dixon also executive producing.
Stewart broke ground with his comedic political commentary as the host of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” on Comedy Central, a role that he held for over 16 years. The show received 56 Emmy nominations during that time, winning 20. Its 10 consecutive wins for best variety series represent the category’s longest streak in Emmy history. “The Daily Show” also received two Peabody Awards during his time.
Stewart paved the way for a number of current stars in the world of political comedy, including John Oliver, Samantha Bee, and Stephen Colbert, all of whom were featured on “The Daily Show.” He is also the latest former late-night host to venture into a new series with a streaming service, joining the ranks of those like Chelsea Handler and David Letterman.
The Hollywood Reporter first broke Stewart’s creative team.
(Pictured, from left to right: Brinda Adhikari, Chelsea Devantez, Lorrie Baranek)
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