Tony Winner George C. Wolfe to Pen/Direct New Starz Series STORYVILLE

Starz has announced the series development of STORYVILLE which is set in New Orleans during the turn of the 20th century where prostitution was decriminalized and an exceedingly vibrant, hedonistic, celebratory subculture emerged and fueled the birth of jazz. Award-winning film and theatre Writer/Director George C. Wolfe (Nights in Rodanthe, Lackawanna Blues, "Lucky Guy") will serve as screenwriter and director with Colin Callender's Playground Entertainment producing the series, led by Scott Huff, Vice President of Development and Production.

"We're glad to be working in partnership again with Colin Callender and Playground Entertainment on this series and with one of Broadway's most respected producers and directors, George C. Wolfe for the first time. His love and expertise in this particular world will allow us to take viewers back to turn-of-the-century New Orleans during the birth of jazz in the midst of profound corruption," said Starz Managing Director Carmi Zlotnik.

"Storyville" is based on an original idea by George C. Wolfe who won three Tony Awards® for the 1992 Broadway musical "Jelly's Last Jam" about Jelly Roll Morton whose career began in the "Storyville" district. Wolfe's theatre credits include directing Nora Ephron's Tony-nominated "Lucky Guy" starring Tom Hanks in his Broadway debut and winning a Tony for his work on "Angels in America". Wolfe is repped by CAA.

About Starz
Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) is a leading integrated global media and entertainment company with operating units that provide premium subscription video programming on domestic U.S. pay television channels (Starz Networks), global content distribution (Starz Distribution) and animated television and movie production (Starz Animation), www.starz.com.

Starz Networks is a leading provider of premium subscription video programming through the flagship STARZ® and ENCORE® pay TV networks which showcase premium original programming and movies to U.S. multichannel video distributors, including cable operators, satellite television providers, and telecommunications companies. As of September 30, 2014, Starz and ENCORE serve a combined 56.2 million subscribers, including 22.5 million at STARZ, and 33.7 million at ENCORE, making them the largest pair of premium flagship channels in the U.S. STARZ® and ENCORE®, along with Starz Networks' third network MOVIEPLEX®, air more than 1,000 movies monthly across 17 linear networks, complemented by On Demand and authenticated online offerings through Starz PLAY, ENCORE PLAY, and MOVIEPLEX PLAY. Starz Distribution develops, produces and acquires entertainment content, distributing it to consumers globally on DVD, digital formats and traditional television. Starz Distribution's home video, digital media and worldwide distribution business units distribute original programming content produced by Starz, as well as entertainment content for itself and third parties. Starz Animation produces animated TV and movie content for studios, networks, distributors and audiences worldwide.

About Playground
Playground was founded in 2012 by Callender, and is committed to producing quality drama for the screen and the stage bringing together the finest US and UK talent from the worlds of theatre, film, and television. Callender won his first Emmy for the television adaptation of the RSC's The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby and, as president of HBO Films, was responsible for an unprecedented award-winning slate of movies and mini-series. Playground is currently in post-production with Company Pictures on the six-part miniseries adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall starring Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis, Claire Foy and Jonathan Pryce set to debut on BBC and Masterpiece in early 2015. It is also partnered with Charlie Pattinson's New Pictures on The Missing the eight part thriller for the BBC and Starz.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos

To post a comment, you must register and login.