Zuiker Signs First-Look Deal

CSI creator Anthony Zuiker will produce and create new content for CBS TV Studios under a two-year contract.

Zuiker will keep his role as executive producer for all three CSI series, but the main goal of his first-look deal with the network will be producing new scripted and unscripted content. Zuiker plans to develop ideas for cable networks, but most of his ideas will be created "as if they will live on CBS," he told The Hollywood Reporter.

"That's the home that built my career," Zuiker explained to Variety. "They gave a kid working on a Las Vegas tram for $8 an hour a chance back in 2000. ... Now, with the CSI franchise healthy and doing well, I'm thinking about the next big thing."

Dare to Pass is Zuiker's production company. The name refers to the fact that ABC passed on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation before it was picked up by CBS. "If you pass on a project it may end up somewhere else," Zuiker explained. "I'm daring them to pass."

Along with Matthew Weinberg, the president of production for Dare to Pass, Zuiker will continue to explore cross-platform storytelling. "Every show that Matt and I pursue, we will approach it first and foremost as an opportunity to create a hit on TV, but there are other ways to consume narrative: through mobile, gaming, publishing," Zuiker said. "The future of television is a 24/7 experience."

The original articles are from The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Thanks to Shane from TalkCSI for the heads up.

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