Matthew Weiner back with 'Mad Men'

January 16, 2009 "It's been a long road to try to make this deal, but between the support of AMC and the creative deal-making of (Lionsgate TV COO) Sandra Stern, we found a way to cobble together a package that was attractive to Matthew and made sense for us," Lionsgate TV president Kevin Beggs said. In what Beggs referred to as "a collective effort" and AMC president Charlie Collier as "a partnership," AMC is said to be pitching in to foot the bill for Weiner's rich new deal, a common practice, especially for high-profile basic cable series. AMC also made the initial deal with Weiner for his "Man Men" spec script and financed the pilot before laying off the series at Lionsgate.

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