Sundance Now taken in by White Lies
AMC Networks-owned Sundance Now has acquired North American streaming rights to crime thriller White Lies from pan-African broadcaster M-Net, producer Quizzical Pictures and distributor Fremantle.
Natalie Dormer (Picnic at Hanging Rock) and Brendon Daniels (Four Corners) star in the 8×60′ murder mystery, written by Darrel Bristow-Bovey.
Set in a wealthy neighbourhood in Cape Town, South Africa, it follows an investigative journalist (Dormer) who gets caught up in the ugly underbelly of the picturesque city, dragging her back to a turbulent past.
Its exclusive launch on Sundance Now and AMC+ in the US and Canada comes after the series arrived on Stan in Australia and M-Net in South Africa in March. Sundance Now boarded the project in a deal negotiated by Fremantle’s Shirley Bowers, senior VP of US distribution.
The series is produced by Harriet Gavshon and Nimrod Geva for Quizzical Pictures, with Dormer and Bristow-Bovey also serving as executive producers. Julie Hodge is executive producer on behalf of Fremantle, which distributes the series internationally.
The deal comes after Fremantle and South African producer Quizzical Pictures previously worked together on the International Emmy-nominated M-Net series Reyka.
Sundance Now last week picked up UK pubcaster BBC Three’s supernatural drama Domino Day (6×60′) from Fremantle.
Shannon Cooper, VP of programming at Sundance Now, said: “White Lies is a brilliantly written, edge-of-your-seat, murder-mystery brought to life by remarkable performances from both Natalie and Brendon, set against an incredible South African backdrop.”
Waldimar Pelser, channel director for premium channels at M-Net parent group MultiChoice, said: “White Lies is the perfect example of how a story steeped in deeply South African challenges has a place on international screens. The series encapsulates the struggles that South Africans face every day and we’re delighted to see it has found an international audience – that’s the magic of powerful storytelling.”