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Starz Entertainment Announces Its First Original Drama Series - to Be Based on Academy Award(R)-Winning Feature Film Crash and Co-Produced With Lionsgate
Production Team to Include Paul Haggis, Bobby Moresco, Bob Yari, Don
Cheadle, Mark R. Harris and Tom Nunan
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Jan. 28 -- "Crash," a new original drama
series based on the Academy Award(R)-winning Best Picture will debut
exclusively on Starz in 2008. The 13-episode, one-hour series, co-produced
with Lionsgate, will be Starz's first ever original drama. The announcement
was made today by Stephan Shelanski, executive vice president, programming
of Starz Entertainment.
Key members of the Oscar-winning theatrical production team are onboard
for the series, including the film's director, co-writer and producer Paul
Haggis, co-writer and producer Bobby Moresco, producer Bob Yari, producer
Don Cheadle, producer Mark R. Harris and executive producer Tom Nunan.
"Crash," which was distributed by Lionsgate, marks only the second time
a Best Picture Oscar(R)-winner has been turned into a series. In the Heat
of the Night was the first. Production on the drama is scheduled to begin
in the spring.
"'Crash' introduced a whole range of fascinating characters and
engrossing, intertwined stories that are ideally suited for developing into
a TV series," commented Shelanski. "Starz is the premium channel for movies
so it's appropriate that this Best Picture-winner is providing the basis
for our first dramatic series. The fact that key members of the film's
production team are involved will ensure that our series maintains the high
level of talent and creativity captured in the film."
"An important part of our strategy is to create franchises across our
company's divisions," said Kevin Beggs, Lionsgate's President of
Programming and Production, "and early in our involvement with this
extraordinary film, we recognized its enormous potential to be successfully
adapted for television. In Starz, we have found partners who share our
vision and we anticipate a great collaboration."
"I'm very happy that Lionsgate and Starz have decided to develop Crash
into a series," said Haggis. "Ironically, my initial impulse was to present
the material in a format for television. I am thrilled it's coming full
circle and can't wait to see how it expands and transforms."
"For me, exploring the characters and conflicts in 'Crash' was a great
experience," said Moresco. "The idea of doing it again in a weekly series
is tremendously exciting."
"This series will present an opportunity to delve into many subjects,
not just race relations in LA," said Cheadle. "I don't think you can do 13
episodes on that subject and keep people interested. The challenge will be
to craft the series characters in such a way as to get beneath the skin
that supposedly differentiates them and create entertaining story lines
that show the hurdles and obstacles we all struggle to overcome day to
day."
Challenging and daring, Crash took a provocative, unflinching look at
the complexities of racial tolerance in contemporary America. The film
featured an all-star cast including Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Matt
Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Chris
"Ludacris" Bridges, Thandie Newton and Ryan Philippe. It was directed by
Haggis and co-written by Haggis and Moresco.
In addition to Best Picture, it also scored Oscars(R) for Haggis and
Moresco's original screenplay, as well as Hughes Winborne's editing. Crash
also earned a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble Cast in a Motion
Picture, a Producers Guild nomination for Best Picture, a Directors Guild
feature film nomination for Haggis, a Writers Guild nomination for Best
Original Screenplay (Haggis and Moresco), nine BAFTA nominations (including
Best Film and Best Director) and six NAACP Image Award nominations
(including Best Film).
Starz Media's Anchor Bay Entertainment will hold exclusive U.S.
distribution rights, including home entertainment, to the "Crash" series,
while Lionsgate will retain international distribution.
The announcement of "Crash" comes on the heels of the launch of Starz'
first two original half-hour comedy series, "Head Case" and "Hollywood
Residential," which premiered last week. "Head Case," stars Alexandra
Wentworth and the new comedy series "Hollywood Residential," stars Adam
Paul and is executive produced by Cheryl Hines. Starz also features "Starz
Inside," a new monthly series of original specials examining people, trends
and culture in movie entertainment hosted by film critic Richard Roeper.
About Lionsgate
Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF) is the leading independent filmed entertainment
studio, winning the 2005 Best Picture Academy Award (R) for Crash, and the
Company is a premier producer and distributor of motion pictures,
television programming, home entertainment, family entertainment and
video-on-demand content. Its prestigious and prolific library of more than
12,000 motion picture titles and television episodes is a valuable source
of recurring revenue and a foundation for the growth of the Company's core
businesses. The Lionsgate brand is synonymous with original, daring,
quality entertainment in markets around the globe.
About Starz Entertainment
Starz Entertainment, LLC, is a premium movie service provider operating
in the United States. It offers 16 movie channels including the flagship
Starz(R) and Encore(R) brands with approximately 16.0 million and 30.3
million subscribers respectively. Starz Entertainment airs more than 1,000
movies per month across its pay TV channels and offers advanced services
including Starz HD, Starz On Demand and Vongo(R). Starz Entertainment
(http://www.starz.com) is an operating unit of Starz, LLC, which is a
wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation that is attributed to
Liberty Capital Group (Nasdaq: LCAPA, LCAPB).
SOURCE Starz Entertainment, LLC
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