Producers Tony Hernandez and Lilly Burns have teamed with former MRC TV president Elise Henderson to launch Counterpart Studios.
The pair who previously ran the production banner Jax Media have quietly been working with Henderson under the Counterpart banner for the past year. Hernandez serves as CEO of Counterpart, while Burns is chief creative officer and Henderson is president. Sarah Madigan, formerly a senior business executive at Jax Media and Imagine, has also signed on as chief operating officer.
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The group will leverage its deep experience in production and strong industry relationships to bring business to Counterpart. As was the case with Jax, the company will offer a mix of production services on third-party projects and it will pursue its own in-house development.
“We believe that high-quality, efficient production is the root of creative success, and we have built a company around that model,” Hernandez, Henderson and Burns said in a statement. “We center our process around the artist/creator, stay nimble, and offer buyers premium content at the right price.”
During the past year Counterpart has delivered drama series “Dexter Original Sin” and “Dexter: Resurrection” for Paramount+/Showtime. It’s also producing the 10-episode half-hour darkly comedic thriller “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed,” starring Tatiana Maslany for Apple TV+, from creator and showrunner David J. Rosen. It’s directed and executive produced by David Gordon Green. “Free Bert” is a six-episode comedy for Netflix toplined and co-created by Bert Kreischer.
Counterpart has three internal projects in the works: an international action crime thriller and an erotic thriller, both set at streamers, and a workplace comedy.
Hernandex and Burns sold their Jax Media banner to Imagine Entertainment in 2018. Imagine bought out the remaining interest in January 2023, the same month that Hernandez and Burns exited. Hernandez launched the company in New York in 2011.
Henderson worked as a literary agent for William Morris Agency and UTA. She served as a development executive at Universal Cable Prods. before joining MRC in April 2019.
Counterpart has offices in New York and Los Angeles.
(Pictured: Counterpart’s Elise Henderson, Lilly Burns, Tony Hernandez and Sarah Madigan)
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