EXCLUSIVE: Hiro Murai, the Emmy-nominated filmmaker known for his work on hit series like Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Atlanta and The Bear, on Wednesday announced the launch of Chum Films, a production company that will focus on developing and producing original films and television series, supporting the vision of new filmmakers and creators.
Carver Karaszewski has been named as the company’s President of Development. Meanwhile, Claudia Shin, Murai’s longtime collaborator on projects like The Bear and Mr. & Mrs. Smith, has been elevated to the role of Senior Vice President of Film & Television.
Under Chum, Murai currently has a first-look deal with FX Productions. At present, projects on the company’s slate include the Apple horror comedy series Widow’s Bay, starring Matthew Rhys, and the A24 samurai film Bushido, among others. We were first to report on the latter, which marks Murai’s anticipated feature directorial debut.
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A longtime collaborator of Donald Glover’s, who won a PGA Award and was Emmy-nominated for his work as director and executive producer of their hit FX series Atlanta, Murai has gone on to partner with the star on projects like the hit Prime Video series Mr. & Mrs. Smith. He’s also director and EP of that series, which has targeted Anora‘s Mark Eydelshteyn and Yellowjackets‘ Sophie Thatcher to star in its second season. In addition to a pair of Emmy nominations for Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Murai landed one for FX’s hit The Bear, which he exec produces under his deal with FX. Other notable credits for the multi-hyphenate include HBO’s Barry and Max’s Station Eleven.
Chum Films President Karaszewski got her start as a music video producer and spent the last decade at Media Res. She was The Morning Show producer’s first hire and helped build the indie studio, while developing and producing series like Boots Riley’s I’m a Virgo for Amazon and Scenes from a Marriage at HBO.
New SVP Shin began her career at in the MP Lit department at UTA and has also held roles at 42 and Paramount Television.
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