Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: On the heels of Justin Lin signing a two-year production deal with Universal Pictures for his newly formed company Barnstorm Pictures, the Fast Five director has inked his first TV pact — a first-look deal with Sony Pictures TV. Under the agreement, Lin will develop series projects for the studio and will also direct a pilot this coming season subject to feature availability. While he is best known for directing the last 3 Fast and the Furious installments, most recently Fast Five, which has earned more than $600M at the worldwide box office, Lin also has directed 3 episodes of the Sony TV-produced NBC comedy Community. I hear the gig, Lin’s only in TV so far, stemmed from his friendship with the series’ co-director/executive producer Joe Russo. It led to Lin setting up shop at the TV studio where director-producers Joe and Anthony Russo also have a deal. Lin, who co-wrote and directed the 2007 comedy feature Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee, is currently out with 2 TV comedy pitches. On the feature side, CAA-repped Lin will go behind the camera for Fast & Furious 6, to be released May 24, 2013. Under his Universal deal, he is developing an action adventure spy film called Leading Man and an untitled project about the 442 Japanese American WWII battalion that is the most decorated in American history. Lin is also attached to a new Terminator movie.

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