Sundance Channel to Bow First Scripted Series in Fall

Olivier Assayas' ‘Carlos' miniseries set for limited run

By Marisa Guthrie -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/9/2010 2:46:49 PM

Looking to take a page out of fellow Rainbow Media network AMC, Sundance Channel will bow its first scripted series this fall.

Carlos, from well-regarded French director Olivier Assayas, is a miniseries about Carlos the Jackal, who led a wave of terrorist attacks through Europe and the Middle East in the 70s and 80s.

The six-hour project is a limited run series. But the network, which was acquired by Rainbow in 2008, has four additional scripted series in development including an adaptation of Erica Jong's iconic sexual liberation novel Fear of Flying; Triple Crossing, a geopolitical crime drama set in South America; The Clinic, a futuristic suspense thriller; and Shutterbabe, about a female photojournalist.

The network's goal is to build a brand beyond the confines of Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival and Institute, which continues to supply Sundance with independent films and documentaries.

Sundance Channel executive VP and GM Sarah Barnett said that the network's scripted strategy is "rooted in our desire to tell original stories" that are "entertaining" and "culturally relevant."

According to Rainbow Entertainment Services COO Ed Carroll, Sundance will be looking at developing more scripted series with a goal toward one launch each year.

Additionally, Sundance will launch two original unscripted series this summer: Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys, about relationships between women and their gay best friends; and Seduce Me, a follow-up to Isabella Rossellini's Webby Award-winning Green Porno.

Barnett also announced a second season of the vérité series Brick City, which shadows Newark, N.J. mayor Cory Booker. Filmmakers Mark Benjamin and Marc Levin are currently in production with an aim toward a 2011 bow.

The second seasons of The Lazy Environmentalist and Man Shops Globe bow in April and June, respectively. Long-running series Iconoclasts and the second season of The Day Before, about the run-up to top designers' runway shows, premiere in September.

Also in 2011, Sundance will expand its Full Frontal Fashion franchise with four fashion-centric unscripted series. Agent of Fashion is a docu-series about designer/agent Brian Stark's Brand Equity Showroom. Fashion Fix and All on the Line center on emerging designers and Fashion Icons follows top designers and their muses.