Fox ties down Empire builder

Twentieth Century Fox Television has secured the exclusive services of Empire co-creator Lee Daniels.

Daniels has entered into a multiyear deal with TCFT, continuing with his executive producer duties on broadcast drama ratings hit Empire.

He will also be developing, writing, directing and supervising new projects for the Fox network under his Lee Daniels Entertainment banner.

Empire, which follows a hip-hop label family dynasty, broke ground by increasing its ratings share each week for its first ten weeks to become broadcast television’s top drama of the new season after its launch last year.

Fox Television Group chairmen and co-CEOs Gary Newman and Dana Walden said Daniels had “a gift for telling authentic, provocative stories that are both truthful and wildly entertaining”.

“I’m looking forward to developing content and finding alternative voices for both in front of and behind the camera,” added Daniels, who is known for movies such as The Butler and Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire.

He is repped by CAA and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren & Richman LLP.