Production for Conspiracy Thriller Begins January 27 in New York City
New York, NY – January 26, 2009 – AMC announced today it has signed actors Lili Taylor (Six Feet Under, Say Anything, Mystic Pizza), Arliss Howard (Full Metal Jacket, Natural Born Killers, The Sandlot), and Dallas Roberts (Walk the Line, Flicka, The L Word) to star in the network’s yet-to-be-named untitled political thriller. The project is from writer and executive producer Jason Horwitch, and Warner Horizon Television is the network’s studio partner. The previously announced pilot cast includes James Badge Dale (The Departed) as the lead, along with Oscar-nominated actress Miranda Richardson (Sleepy Hollow), Paul Butler (The Insider, Reign Over Me), Christopher Evan Welch (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Lauren Hodges (Law & Order) and Jessica Collins (The Nine, CSI) as co-stars. Production is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, January 27, in New York City.
The script revolves around a secret society that pulls the strings on the world political stage. The plot focuses on an analyst at a national think tank who discovers that his employers are not who they seem to be. This marks the third pilot order from AMC; the network’s first two pilots were Mad Men and Breaking Bad, both of which led to full series orders.
"Today’s news rounds out the ensemble cast and is an affirmation that AMC is attracting the highest caliber of talent from film and television. We’re thrilled to have this world class cast, director, and production team to bring this pilot to life," said Joel Stillerman, SVP of original programming, production and digital content for AMC. "This script is an iconic AMC project in that it combines great storytelling with a world that hasn’t been explored on television before. Think tanks are inherently mysterious places with murky agendas, and it’s a great setting for a show like this."
The pilot will be directed by acclaimed film and television helmer Allen Coulter (Hollywoodland, Damages, Kingpin and Nurse Jackie). Kerry Orent (Michael Clayton, Rescue Me) is the producer, and the casting director is Avy Kaufman (The Sixth Sense, King Kong, Garden State).
Horwitch, who created and executive produced FX’s Pentagon Papers and NBC’s Medical Investigation, is represented by ICM and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
About AMC
AMC is a multi-platform network that celebrates classic movies and high-quality scripted series. Among the elite services available in nearly 94 million homes (Source: Nielsen Media Research), AMC defines what it means to be a classic movie network today, creating a distinctive viewing experience that celebrates all that is enduringly cool, personal and powerfully relevant about movies. AMC’s comprehensive library of popular movies strike a meaningful chord with its audience, and its critically-acclaimed slate of originals all have a cinematic quality that allow them to complement and be complemented by some of the best movies of all time. AMC is a subsidiary of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, which includes sister networks IFC, WE tv and Sundance Channel. AMC is THE FUTURE OF CLASSIC.
About Warner Horizon Television
Warner Horizon Television (WHTV) is one of the entertainment industry’s fastest-growing television companies, specializing in the creation of scripted series for the cable marketplace, and primetime reality series for both network and cable. Founded in 2006, this second production entity allows the Warner Bros. Television Group to expand its programming offerings and explore creative options made possible under a new business model. WHTV will produce 11 series for broadcast and cable networks in 2009, with six new series and five returning shows.