Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Exactly two months after he joined the upcoming CW drama series The Secret Circle as an executive producer, Richard Hatem has been let go for creative differences. Executive producer Kevin Williamson, who came on board the project in February and rewrote the original script by Andrew Miller, is running the series, which he executive produces with Miller and Alloys Entertainment’s Leslie Morgenstein and Gina Girolamo. “Kevin has a vision, and they just didn’t see eye-to-eye creatively,” a source close to the show said. I understand that Hatem is staying in business with Secret Circle producer Warner Bros TV through a development arrangement, which is now being finalized. It is not clear whether Hatem will be replaced on Secret Circle. Before him, there were two other writing executive producers, Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, who had originally developed the project with Miller, but they departed in March after the Williamson’s script was picked up to pilot with him as showrunner. Hatem wrote and executive produced another CW drama pilot this past season, Heavenly, and then joined Secret Circle in late May after his pilot was not picked up to series by the network. He was on the series’ Comic-Con panel last week alongside Williamson and Miller and stars Britt Robertson, Thomas Dekker, Phoebe Tonkin and Natasha Henstridge. Based upon the book series by L.J. Smith, Secret Circle stars Robertson as a young woman who moves to a new town and discovers that not only is she a witch and part of a secret coven, but she’s also the key that will unlock a centuries-old battle of good versus evil.

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