Fox Entertainment strikes first-look pact with ‘CSI’ veteran Carol Mendelsohn

Carol Mendelsohn

Fox Entertainment has signed CSI franchise veteran Carol Mendelsohn and Julie Weitz to a multi-year first look broadcast direct deal.

Under the terms of the agreement, Mendelsohn and Weitz will develop scripted dramas for the Fox network and serve as executive producers via their Carol Mendelsohn Productions banner. Greenlit programs will be wholly owned by Fox Entertainment.

Fox Entertainment Studios has optioned the Thomas Perry novel The Bomb Maker, which will be the first project to emerge from the deal.

The studio is currently meeting with potential writers, while Mendelsohn and Weitz will execu produce the project, which follows former commander Dick Stahl, who is called back to duty after the majority of the LAPD Bomb Squad is killed.

On his first day back, the now three-person team is dispatched to a suspected car bomb, and it quickly becomes clear to him that they are dealing with an unusual criminal mastermind – one whose intended target appears to be the Bomb Squad itself.

Mendelsohn served as showrunner and executive producer of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and also co-created and executive produced spinoffs CSI: Miami, CSI: NY and CSI: Cyber.

Weitz and Mendelsohn have executive produced multiple pilots for broadcast and cable, including Chiefs, Doomsday and The Jury, as well as the series Game of Silence and Dogs in the City.

“Carol is one of the great architects of broadcast television’s most influential and longstanding dramas.  Together with Julie, we have two of the most talented, respected producers in the industry; and we are excited to bring their creativity and powerful storytelling to FOX, starting with their development of The Bomb Maker,” said Michael Thorn, president, entertainment, Fox Entertainment.