Elliot Page is set to create "compelling and authentic stories" for broadcast, cable and streaming platforms.
Elliot Page
The 'Umbrella Academy' star - who came out as transgender last December - has signed a first-look deal with UCP to develop scripted and unscripted projects and is looking forward to shining a "desperately needed" light on issues faced by marginalised groups with his new partnership with the company, which is a division of Universal Studio Group.
Elliot said in a statement: "I’ve always had great experiences working with UCP. Beatrice [Springborn, President, UCP] and the rest of the leadership team support my desire to tell compelling and authentic stories from historically marginalised perspectives – stories that are desperately needed at this moment in time.
"I’m honoured to continue my relationship with UCP in this capacity and I can’t wait to get to work."
And UCP are thrilled to have made a deal with the 34-year-old actor.
Beatrice Springborn, UCP President said: “Elliot Page is a changemaker in film and television, and we love collaborating with him on 'The Umbrella Academy'.
“He, and all of us at UCP, champion the many and varied transgender and other underrepresented voices and stories in media. We are thrilled this partnership will amplify Elliot’s work through exciting projects that cross genres and reflect distinct and diverse experiences."
Elliot recently admitted he didn't think he could have made it through moments of "isolation and loneliness and shame" without strong representation in TV and film.
Discussing the impact of 1999 movie 'But I'm A Cheerleader' - which follows a teenager who is sent to gay conversion camp but learns to embrace who she is - while accepting the Achievement Award at Outfest in Los Angeles, he said recently: "[Without representation], I don’t know if I would have made it through the moments of isolation and loneliness and shame and self-hatred that was so extreme and powerful and all-encompassing that you could hardly see out of it."
But although that film made an impact, Elliot insisted much more needs to be done to make representation more widely seen across film and television.
He said: "It’s [Outfest] and organizations like yourself that are completely changing [the amount of representation] and helping get stories out in the world that I know are reaching people in moments where they feel desperately alone and afraid and like they have no sense of community.
"It offers somebody a lifeline. And I know that representation has done that for me."
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