Fox Entertainment Studios has reached a first-look development and producing agreement with Cottage Industry Entertainment, a production company established by executives Lisa Hamilton Daly and Alysia Cotter Thomas.
The deal covers a variety of scripted television series and feature films. Fox has already optioned the Danielle Steel novel “The Whittiers” for a television adaptation. Other television projects in development include a one-hour family drama by writer Jordanna Fraiberg, an adaptation of Lindsay MacMillan’s novel “Summer on Lilac Island” with writer Delondra Mesa, and a comedy titled “Mom’s Place” from Angela Kinsey and Audrey Wauchope.
In the film division, the companies are collaborating on the hockey-themed romantic comedy “It All Comes Down to This” by screenwriters Sam Sklaver and Elizabeth Peterson. They are also developing an adaptation of Adriana Trigiani’s novel “The View from Lake Como,” which Trigiani is also adapting, and an adaptation of Cynthia Hand’s “The Afterlife of Holly Chase” by Ali Laventhol and Tawnya Bhattacharya.
Hamilton Daly and Cotter Thomas launched Cottage Industry Entertainment to focus on “emotionally engaging, female-driven storytelling spanning romantic comedies, family dramas, mysteries, thrillers and other broadly appealing genres.”
Hannah Pillemer, head of scripted at Fox Entertainment Studios, stated that the duo brings a “terrific combination of creative instincts, industry experience and a real understanding of what connects with audiences.” Pillemer noted that Hamilton Daly helped build successful female-driven series while Cotter Thomas spent her career developing films and championing creative voices. Pillemer added that the companies have a “clear point of view, a strong commercial sensibility and a growing slate of projects.”
Hamilton Daly previously served as executive vice president of programming at Hallmark Media, where she oversaw titles such as “The Way Home,” “When Calls the Heart,” “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story,” “Mistletoe Murders” and “Ripple.” Her career also includes roles as director of original series at Netflix, as well as time at Lifetime and A+E Films.
Cotter Thomas was most recently a literary agent at Paradigm, where she packaged projects such as Ross Evan’s spec script “How to Save a Marriage” for Sony Pictures. Her previous experience includes a stint at Warner Bros. as part of the team that developed the “Batman” franchise with Christopher Nolan, as well as roles as a VP at Legendary Entertainment and VP of creative affairs at Working Title in London.
In a joint statement, Hamilton Daly and Cotter Thomas said Fox Entertainment Studios has been a “tremendous partner in helping us build Cottage Industry and bring our creative vision to life.” They stated they share a belief in stories that entertain and move people, and noted that Pillemer’s team understands both the creative and business sides of their work.
