Top Podcast Network Gimlet Media Launches Film And TV Division

Brooklyn-based podcast network Gimlet Media, which creates popular audio narratives like Reply All and Crimetown, is officially moving into the film and TV world.

The company has launched a new division, Gimlet Pictures, as three of its podcasts are currently being developed into series and features. These include an Amazon show based on the psychological thriller Homecoming, starring Julia Roberts; ABC’s Alex, Inc. — starring Zach Braff and based on Gimlet founder Alex Blumberg’s own entrepreneurial journey, as well as an episode of StartUp; and the Robert Downey Jr.-starring feature Man Of The People from Annapurna Pictures, which takes its inspiration from an episode of Reply All. That film will be directed by Richard Linklater.

Gimlet Pictures will be headed up by Chris Giliberti, who has been with the company for roughly for three years, and most recently served as head of multiplatform. “We’ve set up and served as producers on three projects so far,” Giliberti tells Deadline, “and in doing so have learned a lot about the various ways a project can develop, sell, and come to fruition. On the heels of these projects, we feel prepared to take a bigger bet on TV and film, both in terms of number of projects but also in terms of depth of participation across the development and production process.”

Gimlet Pictures will continue to develop projects internally and package them with writers and talent before taking them out for sale, Giliberti says. As for whether the company plans to finance its own productions, he told Deadline, “we’ll look to experiment with new structures there.”

Gimlet Media was co-founded by Blumberg, a former This American Life producer, and Matt Lieber, in 2014. Today, it is considered one of the nation’s top podcast networks as the medium enters a period of great creative — and financial — possibility.