Matt Shakman is returning to TV in a big way. Deadline reports that the WandaVision director will serve as both an executive producer and a resident director on Paramount+'s new legal series Discretion, set to launch with Shakman directing the pilot and three additional episodes. It is a targeted, high-control creative assignment, not a casual directing credit, and it lands right in the middle of the current prestige-TV arms race where buyers want “event” storytelling but also want predictable execution.

This is also a direct continuation of the Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning collaboration orbit. Discretion is the latest in a long line of projects connecting those two performers, and Shakman is the connective tissue on the director side. He previously worked with Fanning when he directed the pilot episode of The Great in 2020, which earned an Emmy nomination. For executives tracking talent leverage, that matters: the industry has learned (sometimes the hard way) that repeating a successful creative triangle can lower commissioning risk and shorten the distance from pilot to audience confidence.

So what is Discretion actually about? The series is based on Chandler Baker's short story. The story, as yet unpublished, is reportedly based on her time as a corporate attorney. The show centers on Fanning as a young lawyer who discovers a “web of NDAs masking a dark truth,” which pulls her into conflict with her mentor, a senior attorney played by Kidman. Translation: it is legal drama as power drama, where confidentiality agreements are not just paperwork but a mechanism for controlling people and outcomes. In a genre crowded with courtroom set pieces, that NDA angle is the kind of premise that can generate tension outside the obvious “case of the week” format.

For context, Discretion also sits on top of an existing track record between Fanning and Kidman, and those prior collaborations help explain why Paramount+ would want a director who can lock in tone early. The pair worked together for the first time in 2017's The Beguiled, then re-teamed for 2018's How To Talk To Girls At Parties, and then returned together for this year's Margo's Got Money Troubles. That is not just trivia. When performers repeatedly collaborate, audiences and internal teams often develop expectations for chemistry, pacing, and how to balance character intimacy with plot propulsion. Discretion aims to turn that “we know how these two play together” advantage into an audience-building engine.

Meanwhile, the creative choice of Shakman is doing more than “keeping the streak alive” from WandaVision. The source notes that he has done similar “Let's kick things off right” work for shows like Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters and Welcome To Chippendales. In other words, Shakman is being tapped for early-stage clarity. That is an operational advantage for streamers, because pilots are when you decide what the show’s rules are: how quickly it reveals information, whether it escalates or meanders, and how it handles reveals like the “dark truth” underneath those NDAs. If a pilot fails to establish velocity, later episodes often cannot rescue it, no matter how strong the acting is.

There is also a production context that decision-makers in media should notice. Like that ongoing series, Discretion is being produced by A24. A24 has built a brand around prestige sensibilities, distinctive voice, and a willingness to bet on creators who want to do something a little different than standard genre formulas. When a buyer like Paramount+ ties itself to an A24 production, the bet is not only on the script. It is on the package: cast, tone, and execution discipline. Shakman doubling as executive producer and resident director tightens that discipline further, because he is not just interpreting the show. He is helping steer it.

The other signal here is how television pipelines increasingly mirror how film franchises operate: continuity, repeat collaborations, and roles that carry creative ownership across episodes. The source also reminds us that Shakman is still on the hook for an as-yet unnamed new installment in the Planet Of The Apes franchise. That dual-track reality is common for high-demand directors, but it forces teams to plan around calendar constraints. His “pilot plus three additional episodes” assignment suggests the studio wants him close enough at the start to set the series’ identity, even if his time has to split.

In the end, Discretion is a case study in how big streamers and premium producers are thinking about risk. They are banking on recognizable creative relationships between director, lead actors, and production partner. They are also leaning into legal drama themes that feel built for modern stakes, where NDAs symbolize institutional leverage and where mentorship can become a fault line. For executives, boards, and investors evaluating what to fund next, the lesson is simple: this is not random casting or random directing. It is structured control at the pilot stage, backed by talent continuity, and aimed at delivering a show that can compete for attention the way WandaVision did, but in a different register.