Made Up Stories has teamed with former BINGE/Foxtel and Nine/Stan executive Alison Hurbert-Burns to launch The Set Up, a new Sydney-based television venture focused on packaging premium Australian series for broadcasters and streaming platforms around the world.
Hurbert-Burns will serve as CEO and co-founder of the company alongside Made Up Stories’ Bruna Papandrea and Steve Hutensky. Made Up Stories executives and producers Casey Haver, Jeanne Snow and Katie Amos will also form part of The Set Up’s leadership team.
The company will bring together Australian stories, creative talent and financing with the aim of building series for both local and international audiences, while pursuing global co-productions and partnerships with broadcasters and platforms.
The Set Up already has a pipeline of projects being prepared for production from 2027, and will also source projects from third-party Australian producers and creatives.
“Alison is that rare combination — a true tastemaker and a brilliant operator — and one of the most highly regarded people in the Australian TV industry. Teaming up with her is a dream,” Papandrea and Hutensky said in a joint statement.
“Australian creatives and stories are wold-class, and the opportunity to produce a slate of shows that resonate both locally and globally is incredibly exciting,” they continued. “We’re passionate about bringing top Australian television to audiences everywhere.”
The venture reunites Hurbert-Burns with Papandrea and Hutensky after previous collaborations on Australian series “Strife” and the 2025 Liane Moriarty adaptation “The Last Anniversary”, the latter an international co-production between BINGE/Foxtel, AMC+ and the BBC.
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Hurbert-Burns previously oversaw the launch and growth of Australian streaming service BINGE and has commissioned and overseen series including “Colin From Accounts”, “Mix Tape” and “The Twelve”.
Made Up Stories, founded by Papandrea and Hutensky, has produced series including “Big Little Lies”, “Nine Perfect Strangers”, “The Undoing”, “Pieces of Her” and “Anatomy of a Scandal”. Its Australian productions include “The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart” as well as “Strife” and “The Last Anniversary”.
Hurbert-Burns said the new company would combine Made Up Stories’ production experience with the perspective she developed working on the commissioning side of the industry.
“Bruna, Steve and the Made Up Stories team are simply the best in the business at making television the world wants to watch — and this new company is a business and creative partnership in every sense,” she said.
“We’re bringing a commissioner’s lens and a targeted approach to our slate, finding stories that travel across borders and appeal to broad audiences. Having been on the buying side, I appreciate that streamers and broadcasters need reliable, consistent access to highly engaging, premium-quality content in a landscape that’s changing fast.”
While Made Up Stories will continue developing its broader film and television slate with US and international partners, The Set Up will operate as a dedicated Australian venture, drawing on local creative and production talent, locations and production incentives.
Recent Made Up Stories projects include second seasons of “Nine Perfect Strangers” and “Strife” as well as “The Last Anniversary” and the film “Addiction”. Upcoming in 2026 is Peacock series “The Good Daughter”, the company’s second collaboration with author Karin Slaughter.