Entertainment One Serves as the Studio Producing the Drama Series
Entertainment One and Endemol USA to Co-Distribute
Series Internationally
Series Slated to Premiere in Fourth Quarter 2011
NEW YORK – May 3, 2011 – AMC announced today that their newest original series, "Hell on Wheels" begins production on Monday, May 16 in Calgary. "Hell on Wheels" is a contemporary western that centers on former confederate soldier Cullen Bohannon, portrayed by Anson Mount, whose quest for vengeance has led him to the Union Pacific Railroad’s westward construction of the first Transcontinental Railroad. Developed by Endemol USA and produced by Entertainment One (eOne) and Nomadic Pictures, "Hell on Wheels" is created, written and executive produced by Joe and Tony Gayton (Faster, Uncommon Valor, Salton Sea, Bulletproof). The series is slated to premiere in fourth quarter of 2011.
Today’s announcement also reveals a first-look video of "Hell on Wheels." Viewers can click on http://customshow.com/client/amc/show/sepollack/HOW_video/ to access the clip.
"Hell on Wheels" underscores the network’s commitment to the western following its first original mini-series movie event, "Broken Trail." The mini-series premiere, in June 2006, was the second most watched cable movie since 1995 and delivered the network all-time record ratings, including an average 7.7 HH rating and nearly 10 million total viewers over its two-night airing.
"AMC’s commitment to the western is long-standing, and the genre is an important part of our brand and history as a channel," said Charlie Collier, president of AMC. "’In ’Hell on Wheels,’ AMC is creating another epic and enduring American story."
In addition to Mount (City by the Sea, Cook County, ABC’s Line of Fire,) "Hell on Wheels" stars musician/actor Common (Just Wright, Date Night) as Elam, Dominique McElligott (Moon, The Philanthropist) as Lily Bell, Colm Meaney (The Conspirator, Get Him to the Greek) as Durant, Ben Esler (The Pacific) as Sean McGinnes, Philip Burke (Mercy) as Mickey McGinnes and Eddie Spears (Into the West) as Brother Joseph.
"Hell on Wheels" tells the epic story of post-Civil War America, focusing on a Confederate soldier (Mount) who sets out to exact revenge on the Union soldiers who have killed his wife. His journey takes him west to ’Hell on Wheels,’ a dangerous, raucous, lawless melting pot of a town that travels with and services the construction of the first transcontinental railroad, an engineering feat unprecedented for its time. The series documents the railroad’s incredible feat of engineering and construction as well as the institutionalized greed and corruption, the immigrant experience, and the plight of the newly emancipated African-Americans during reconstruction. Over time, "Hell on Wheels" chronicles this potent turning point in our nation’s history, and how uncivilized the business of civilization can be.
Joining the Gaytons as executive producers are Jeremy Gold, Endemol’s SVP of scripted programming, John Shiban and David Von Ancken, who directed the series pilot. eOne Television’s CEO John Morayniss and SVP creative affairs Michael Rosenberg oversee production in partnership with producers Mike Frislev and Chad Oakes at Nomadic Pictures.
Shot on location in Alberta, Canada, the series is produced with assistance of the Government of Alberta, Alberta Film Development Program.
AMC’s Joel Stillerman, SVP of original programming, production and digital content, Susie Fitzgerald, SVP of scripted programming, Jason Fisher, SVP of production, and Owen Shiflett, director of scripted programming, oversee series production for the network.
Endemol holds all television distribution rights across Europe with eOne selling "Hell on Wheels" in all remaining territories. As a leading international content distributor, eOne also handles worldwide rights for DVD/Blu-ray, VOD and digital distribution.
For more information, visit AMC’s press website, http://press.amctv.com
About AMC
AMC reigns as the only cable network in history to ever win the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Drama Series three years in a row, as well as the Golden Globe® Award for Best Television Series – Drama for three consecutive years. Whether commemorating favorite films from every genre and decade or creating acclaimed original programming, the AMC experience is an uncompromising celebration of great stories. AMC’s original stories include "Mad Men," "Breaking Bad," "The Walking Dead," "The Killing" and "Hell on Wheels." AMC further demonstrates its commitment to the art of storytelling with AMC’s Docu-Stories, a slate of unscripted original series, as well as curated movie franchises like AMC’s Can’t Get Enough and AMC’s Crazy About. Available in more than 97 million homes (Source: Nielsen Media Research), AMC is owned and operated by Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, and its sister networks include IFC, Sundance Channel, WE tv and Wedding Central. AMC is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile. AMC: Story Matters HereSM.
About Entertainment One
Entertainment One Ltd. (LSE:ETO) is a leading international entertainment company that specializes in the acquisition, production and distribution of film and television content. The company’s comprehensive network extends around the globe including Canada, the U.S., the UK, Ireland, Benelux, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Through established Entertainment and Distribution divisions, the company provides extensive expertise in film distribution, television and music production, family programming and merchandising and licensing. Its current rights library is exploited across all media formats and includes more than 20,000 film and television titles, 2,400 hours of television programming and 45,000 music tracks.
About Endemol USA
Endemol USA is a leading producer of television programming specializing in unscripted and scripted genres for network and cable television. The company produces the hit shows "Wipeout," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," "Deal or No Deal," and "Big Brother." Endemol USA is a division of the Endemol Group, a leading international content developer, producer and distributor of television and online programming. The company, headquartered in the Netherlands and the UK, has subsidiaries and joint ventures in 26 countries, including the major European markets, the U.S., South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Australia. Endemol is owned by a consortium consisting of Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Mediaset Group and Cyrte Group. For more information, please visit http://www.endemolusa.tv. Endemol is a privately held company.