Tomorrow Studios' Busy Buddies

Nine years ago, when Marty Adelstein was launching Tomorrow Studios as a joint venture with the UK's ITV, he needed a top executive. An agent friend told him, "You're going to hire Becky Clements." And he did. Adelstein, a fouding partner of Endeavor, hired Clements away from Brillstein Grey Television to be president at the Los Angeles-based company. In 2021, she became a partner.

"Our job is about tenacity and persistence," Clements says. Take, for instance, Let the Right One In. Originally a 2004 Swedish novel, it became a Swedish film in 2008, an American film (Let Me In) in 2010 and a series on Showtime last fall, thanks to Tomorrow.

"About ten years ago," Adelstein recalls, "my oldest daughter said, 'You have to watch this movie.' I said, 'What's it about?' She said, 'Vampires.' I said, 'I don't like vampires.' She said, 'No, no, it's more of a psychological thriller. Come watch.'"

He instantly fell in love with the Swedish film, but it was "at least an eight-year journey by the time we got the rights." Even after a disastrous first pilot, the CEO recalls, "We weren't going to let it go. We just thought it was so good. We stick with things that we're passionate about."

Given the central motif of a parent protecting a child, that was easy for the partners, who each have three daughters. "Testing [that bond] in every episode felt like a very good theme — that you could wrap justification for murderous behavior around," Clements says. "There's probably nothing that we wouldn't do for our daughters. So that felt evergreen."

Their Snowpiercer series had its own winding path. When Adelstein saw the 2013 movie with his wife, he knew there was more story to tell. "I was attracted to the themes," he says. "I wanted to know more about those people. I like the idea of the class struggle."

Adelstein and Clements remain busy. Season two of the animated Ten Year Old Tom returned to Max in June, an adaptation of the popular manga series One Piece debuts on Netflix on August 31 and work is proceeding on Balabusta, a new TV series for three-time Emmy winner Julia Garner.

Not every project has to appeal to both partners — if one feels it, that's usually enough. A perfect example is Apple TV+'s Physical, which Adelstein didn't initially get but Clements loved. The results speak for themselves — the third and final season premieres August 2. Adelstein laughs and says, "You know, I sort of like to be wrong at times."

This article originally appeared in emmy magazine issue #7, 2023, under the title, "Busy Buddies."