The Fall producer Artists Studio, run by Gub Neal, has joined forces with French production outfit Leonis (led by Jean-Benoît Gillig) and fellow executive producer Justin Thomson (DoveTale) to develop a new miniseries.
The trio are developing a new 8×52 show, following on from their first collaboration, Insoupconnable, the French version of UK hit The Fall which premiered in Lille as part of Series Mania.
Scripted by Virginie Brac and Oliver Butcher, Faceless is described as “a smart, tense, disruptive thriller which dynamites Anglo French entente cordiale and blows open the cracks at the heart of the European project.”
The drama will “take audiences on a wild ride through the corridors of power on both sides of the Channel, involving murder, betrayal, blackmail, high stakes diplomacy and state sponsored cyber-crime, heralding the start of a frightening new age of virtual warfare.”
Insoupconnable will launch on TF1 later this year and stars Emmanuelle Seigner, Melvil Poupaud, Jean-Hugues Anglade and Claire Keim, coming soon on TF1.
Writer Virginie Brac scripted the whole of Season 2 of Spiral (Engrenages) for Canal+ and contributed to Season 4. She created Tony’s Revenge (Les Beaux Mecs) for France 2 and Paris for Arte. She participated in the development of Cannabis, aired by Arte in late 2016, and is creating a new series, Le Clan Bonaparte, for France 2. She also wrote Beyond Suspicion (Insoupçonnable), a 10×52’ series based on The Fall and produced for TF1 by Jean-Benoît Gillig (Léonis).
Oliver Butcher started out in documentaries and commercials before scripting his first feature film in 1988 with George Harrison’s production company, Handmade Films. He worked as a scriptwriter for American major studios and started writing comedies, such as Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde (1995), before devoting himself to thrillers. Unknown, written in 2011 with Stephen Cornwell and featuring Liam Neeson, was his most recent studio production, followed by Message from the King, released in 2017.
Jon Creamer
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