Peter Murrieta has signed a first-look deal with Universal Television, Variety has learned exclusively.
Under the deal, Murrieta will develop original content for broadcast, cable and streaming platforms. He was previously an executive producer on “Mr. Iglesias” at Netflix and recently co-wrote the Lifetime movie “Feliz Navidad” with his wife Aliza, with Mario Lopez starring. He was also the showrunner and executive producer on the Disney Channel series “Wizards of Waverly Place.” His other credits include “Superior Donuts” and “One Day at a Time.”
“We couldn’t be happier to be working with Peter in this new way,” said Jim Donnelly, executive vice president of comedy development at Universal Television. “Besides being a hilarious writer and all-around great guy, he has an amazing track record of championing and supporting fellow LatinX voices and talent. We look forward to all the great projects we get to collaborate with him on.”
Murrieta is also known for creating the semi-autobiographical comedy series “Greetings From Tuscon,” which aired on The WB. He is currently working on “Primo” at IMDB TV and is developing an animated project for Amazin and a feature for DreamWorks Animation.
Outside of film and television, he is writing his first novel based and his first comic book, “Henchmen.” The comic will be available on May 26 and follows an easy going henchman attempting to take control of his life and survive corporate super villainy.
Murrieta is a professor of practice at the Sidney Poitier New American Film School at Arizona State University , and previously taught at American Film Institute. He is repped by Verve, 3 Arts and attorney Lon Sorensen.