Toronto-based Shaftesbury Films has entered into a representation deal with William Morris Agency, which has already struck a deal with NBC in the US for 13 episodes of Shaftesbury's new one-hour drama series The Listener. The show is about a paramedic with the power to read minds, and goes into production in Spring 2008 in Toronto. "We are very excited about this partnership with Shaftesbury Films," said Mark Itkin, co- head of worldwide television for William Morris. "We believe that there is a desire for new and unique sources of programming and that by joining forces with Shaftesbury Films, we will help to expose their already successful product to a much wider audience in the United States." President of LA's The Alpern Group Jeff Alpern, who has represented Shaftesbury for more than 10 years, recently felt the film house's growing slate of productions necessitated representation by a full-service agency and brought Shaftesbury to WMA's attention. Alpern has been retained by Shaftesbury to manage its interests.