TFC Taps Sugar23 Exec to Spearhead Production Arm (Exclusive)

TFC has recruited Sugar23’s Kelly Wu to spearhead its production arm.

The new division, TFC Productions, is an extension of the company’s ongoing management work, with TFC beginning to selectively produce alongside its clients. The boutique firm, which was co-founded by former WME partner David Stone and former UTA partner Ben Jacobson early in the pandemic, has enlisted Wu to run the division day to day.

“We are so thrilled to have Kelly join us to spearhead our efforts across TFC Productions,” the duo noted in a joint statement. “She’s a brilliant executive, a wonderful person, and a huge value-add for our company, our clients, and our entire film and television slate.”

Wu got her Hollywood start working for the head of TV at WME, where she was integral to the formation of the agency’s first company-wide AAPI Heritage Month programming initiative. From there, she moved to Chernin Entertainment in 2019, where she worked on projects across film and TV including Truth Be Told, See and Slumberland, before jumping again to Sugar23. At the latter, Wu was focused on film, developing a diverse slate of features that spanned genres.

Prior to her time in the entertainment industry, the San Jose, Calif.-born Yale grad worked in tech as an enterprise software sales executive. Per the internal announcement, during her time at Yale, Wu also managed a late-night diner, where “she changed lives by adding avocado toast to the menu.”

In making the announcement, Stone and Jacobson were careful to note that TFC will “always be a client focused company,” with TFC Productions built to complement TFC’s core business, client representation. Driving that point home, the pair noted in its internal messaging that the goal of the new division is to foster “new opportunities on behalf of clients, and [support] client projects only if and when both the client and our team believe that it would be mutually beneficial.” To date, the TFC slate features films in active development at New Line and Paramount along with TV projects that are in the works at Paramount, Amazon and FX.

The news comes as TFC has expanded to five managers, with a client roster that collectively includes Warren Littlefield, Akiva Goldsman, Carol Mendelsohn, Corinne Brinkerhoff, Brian Yorkey, Megan Park, Steve Yockey, Courtney Lily and Josh and Jonas Pate.