Nellie Andreeva

ALEXGR~1Alex Graves is in early negotiations to direct the pilot episode for Fox’s midseason series Terra Nova, which is executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Peter Chernin. The direct-to-series project, which was well received at the network’s upfront presentation, features a family from 2149 when the planet is dying who are transported back to pre-historic Earth where they join Terra Nova, a colony of humans with a second chance to build a civilization. While the producers of the show initially were looking to cast a lead first, the priority quickly shifted to finding the right director. The West Wing director-producer Graves, who has helmed several pilots, including the one for sci-fi Fox series Fringe, emerged as the top choice last week. He then met with all key producers and executives involved in the project and, after his final sit-downs with Spielberg and Fox’s entertainment chairman Peter Rice today, which I hear went very well, he received an offer to direct the pilot. Fox has not scheduled Terra Nova yet because of the extensive post-production and visual effects involved. But the network’s brass are hoping to launch the series as early as the week after the Super Bowl to use the big sporting event as a promotional platform. Terra Nova, from 20th TV, DreamWorks TV, Kapital Entertainment and Chernin Entertainment, is executive produced by Spielberg, Chernin, the pilot’s writers Craig Silverstein and Kelly Marcel, showrunner Brannon Braga, David Fury, Aaron Kaplan, Katherine Pope, Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank. Graves is repped by CAA.

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