Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, Calif – Heading into the fourth season premiere of the hit Starz original series Power, Starz and Lionsgate have signed Power creator, showrunner and executive producer Courtney A. Kemp to an exclusive multi-year overall deal. The collaborative nature of Kemp’s new deal expands her relationship with the company to include Lionsgate which allows Kemp to develop and produce new projects for Starz and other content through her End of Episode production company, while also continuing to serve in her current role as showrunner and executive producer on Power.
The deal was negotiated for Lionsgate by Television Group President Sandra Stern and for Starz by Senior VP Business & Legal Affairs Russell Schwartz. The third season of Power delivered a record 8 million multiplatform viewers (Live + SD) per episode and was the most watched premium television original series in 2016, behind only Game of Thrones.The 10-episode fourth season returns on Sunday, June 25th airing all day with a Power Play marathon stunt.
Power marked Courtney A. Kemp’s debut as a creator and showrunner and follows the complex character James Ghost St.Patrick and his attempts to move from New York’s biggest drug dealer to its biggest legit businessman. Under her leadership, the series doubled viewership from its premiere episode to its season one finale and generated the largest concentration of African American viewership of any scripted premium series in almost a decade. Power was renewed for seasons four and five following the record-shattering season three premiere on July 17, 2016.
Previously, Kemp was a writer and supervising producer on the celebrated television show The Good Wife, which went on to garner nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series and a Writers Guild Award for Dramatic Series. She also worked on ABC’s Eli Stone, Fox’s Justice, and The Bernie Mac Show among others. Prior to her work in television, Kemp wrote for many prestigious magazines, including GQ, Vibe and Marie Claire. Kemp is represented by CAA and Michael Gendler of Gendler & Kelly.
