David Boorstein is joining Westbrook Studios as the senior vice president and head of scripted television development, Variety has learned exclusively.
Westbrook Studios is a subsidiary of Westbrook Inc., which was founded in 2019 by Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Miguel Melendez and Kosaku Yada. In his new role, Boorstein will will report to Westbrook Studios’ co-president and head of television, Terence Carter.
“David and I have worked together many times over the years, and I’ve seen firsthand his ability to successfully shepherd ideas to screen,” said Carter. “In this unprecedented TV entertainment climate, I am thrilled to bring David’s advocacy for artists into the Westbrook fold as we tell captivating stories across genres and mediums.”
Boorstein was most recently president of television for Antoine Fuqua’s Fuqua Films. There he oversaw the development of multiple shows, such as Fox’s “The Resident” and the Quibi series “#FreeRayshawn.” On the latter project, he served as creative lead in a co-studio venture between Fuqua Films and Sony Pictures Television. Boorstein is also an executive producer on both projects. He also shepherded the CBS/Warner Bros. Television series adaptation of Fuqua’s Oscar-winning film “Training Day.”
“I’m thrilled to join Jada, Will, Terence and the rest of the incredible team at Westbrook,” Boorstein said. “I share their excitement to embrace the new challenges before us and help build a studio that is focused on empowering artists to create amazing television for all audiences.”
Prior to Fuqua Films, Boorstein was vice president of television at FilmEngine. Before that, he served as the director of development at Dare to Pass, the production company of “CSI” franchise creator Anthony Zuiker.
Westbrook Studios currently produces Pinkett Smith’s Facebook Watch talk series “Red Table Talk” and is also developing a number of other film and television projects across multiple platforms.