Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: In his first TV pact, bestselling author Nicholas Sparks has signed a two-year, first-look deal with Warner Horizon Television, the cable division of Warner Bros TV. Under the rich agreement, Sparks and his longtime publishing agent and creative collaborator Theresa Park will develop and executive produce series projects with an eye toward the cable marketplace “that will bring to television many of the core elements of my books and films: romantic love, family bonds, and the universal human dramas that move us all,” Sparks said. The projects, which won’t include shows written by Sparks himself, will be shepherded through Sparks’ newly-launched Nicholas Sparks Prods. Park has been named President of Production for NSP, which will develop and produce both feature film and TV projects. On the feature side, Sparks is producing through NSP Relativity’s Safe Haven, a Lasse Hallström-directed adaptation of his novel which is slated to begin production later this year. The Best of Me, also based on a bestselling Sparks novel, is in development at Warner Bros., with Sparks producing and Park co-producing. Those mark the eighth and ninth movie based on some of Sparks’ 16 published novels. The seventh one, The Lucky One starring Zac Efron, opens April 20. On the TV side, Sparks, repped by UTA and attorney Scott E. Schwimer, sold his first original TV project this development season, supernatural drama The Watchers, which landed at ABC.

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