Bekah Brunstetter, creator of Peacock’s most-watched scripted original, is no longer a free agent. Universal Global Television has signed The Five Star Weekend showrunner to her first overall deal, on the heels of the series’ Season 2 renewal.
The deal
Under the exclusive agreement, Brunstetter will develop and produce shows only for Universal Global Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, across multiple platforms. It is her first overall pact after years spent moving between playwright commissions, limited series and network dramas.
Why UGT moved now
The timing is not a coincidence. The first season of The Five Star Weekend, starring Jennifer Garner and adapted from Elin Hilderbrand’s bestseller, became Peacock’s most watched scripted original to date. The show also pushed the novel back onto The New York Times bestseller list. That cross-format IP flywheel is exactly what streaming studios want to secure before competitors bid up the next project.
- Proven IP: A Hilderbrand adaptation that delivered Peacock’s top scripted original.
- Star power: A package built around Jennifer Garner, with domestic and international reach.
- Long résumé: Brunstetter worked on This Is Us, Maid and Sirens, and earned a Tony nomination for The Notebook.
- Prestige theatre: Her play The Cake has been produced over 100 times worldwide.
What an overall deal signals
In an overall deal, a studio gets first claim on a creator’s development time. The creator cannot shop projects elsewhere while the pact runs; in return, the studio pays for development overhead and positions the creator as a priority supplier. For competitors, the deal removes a known name from the open market. For media planners, it is an early input for where future premium inventory may be developed.
UGT can develop for its own platforms or sell to third parties, so the agreement is not a guarantee that everything lands on Peacock. Brunstetter’s statement points to the broader ambition. “I’m thrilled to not just make more of The Five Star Weekend, but also to explore new projects, expanding my love of juicy, hopeful stories into other genres and worlds,” she said. UGT President Beatrice Springborn called her characters “wonderfully complex” while praising her work ethic and collaboration.
The next KPI
The first installment set a high bar. The second season’s retention will show whether The Five Star Weekend is a durable franchise or a one-cycle breakout. If Brunstetter develops outside her current register, it will also signal that UGT bought a multi-genre creator rather than a single-title asset.
Source: Deadline
