America Saga Productions Preps New Miniseries
Robert Duvall to direct, star in new company’s first American-themed miniseries, The Line.
By B&C Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/7/2008 12:01:00 AM
A new production company formed to produce Americana-themed miniseries will launch with the production of The Line, a four-hour two-part drama featuring Robert Duvall as both star and director.
The series, from privately funded America Saga Productions, focuses on a conflict at the Mexican-American border. Producers include Duvall and his partner, Rob Carliner, as well as Peter Crane, Hallie Foote and Alan Geoffrion.
ASP was formed by Michael Leighton, Jerry Zandstra, Nick Grillo and Jerry Offsay. It wants to produce up to five miniseries annually, and it will shop The Line to various networks.
Leighton recognizes that the miniseries is no longer a primetime staple of television, but he said ASP has a business model that will “eliminate the financial risk for cable or broadcast networks.”
“In lieu of paying a license fee or financing the production, the network will share its first-year advertising time with ASP, which, in return, will deliver a fully funded production with no investment on the part of the network,” he added.
ASP wants distribution and ancillary rights in all other media, as well as internationally, to turn a profit.
