20th Century Fox Television is adding an up-and-coming writer to its roster.
The studio has inked a two-year overall deal with Justified alum Ingrid Escajeda, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Under the pact, Escajeda will develop and supervise projects for the studio and join Fox's 20th TV-produced phenomenon Empire as a co-executive producer.
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"We’re always on the lookout for the boldest, most original voices, and we had a great development experience with Ingrid earlier this year that convinced us we wanted to be in business with her exclusively," 20th TV creative affairs president Jonnie Davis said. "
"We introduced her to [Empire showrunner] Ilene [Chaiken] and they hit it off immediately, so this deal both helps make sure Empire has the best resources to continue to thrive creatively and allows Ingrid to develop her own projects down the road."
For Escajeda, the pact comes after the former Justified supervising producer sold a female-driven family cartel drama to CBS this past development season that was produced by the studio.
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In addition to her four-year tenure on Justified, Escajeda's credits include Better Off Ted.
The overall deal for Escajeda — her first — comes as new writers continue to be in high demand given the increase in not only original scripted programming but cable and streaming outlets producing it.
She's repped by UTA and Echo Lake Management.
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Email: Lesley.Goldberg@THR.com
Twitter: @Snoodit
