ITV STUDIOS UNVEILS PREMIUM US, UK, AUSTRALIAN & NORDIC ENGLISH LANGUAGE DRAMA FOR LA SCREENINGS

London, 16 May 2024 – ITV Studios today announces its upcoming scripted slate due to be presented to global buyers at the LA Screenings 2024, featuring premium titles including the highly anticipated Murder in A Small Town (Future Shack Entertainment and Sepia Films for FOX) and brand new drama Good Cop, Bad Cop created by John Quaintance (“Reboot,” “Will & Grace”) and produced by Jeff Wachtel’s Future Shack Entertainment and Jungle Entertainment.

Recently confirmed to air in FOX’s Fall schedule on Tuesdays at 9PM, Murder in A Small Town (1×90 premiere and 7×60 rest-of-series) is adapted from L.R. Wright’s globally popular series of detective mystery novels. Set amidst the stunning natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest, the compelling character-led crime drama follows police chief Karl Alberg (Rossif Sutherland), a detective who moves to a quiet coastal town in search of peace of mind but soon finds “this gentle paradise has more than its share of secrets.” As well as murder and mystery, Alberg finds romance and a real second chance at love with local Cassandra (Kristen Kreuk).

Good Cop, Bad Cop (8 x 60, for CW, ROKU and STAN Australia), follows Lou (Leighton Meester) and Henry (Luke Cook), a sister and brother detective team in a smalltown USA police force. They must contend with colourful residents, a serious lack of resources and their very complicated dynamic with each other and their police chief, Big Hank (Clancy Brown) – who happens to be their father.

The charming new narrative comedy-drama series Austin (8 x 30, Northern Pictures and Lincoln Pictures for ABC), set between Australia and the UK and starring Michael Theo (Love On The Spectrum), Ben Miller (Bridgerton, Death in Paradise) and Sally Phillips (Veep, Bridget Jones’s Diary) will also be showcased to buyers. When much-loved children’s author Julian Hartswood inadvertently causes a social media storm, his career and that of his illustrator wife Ingrid appears to be over until Austin, the neurodiverse son that Julian never knew existed, turns up out of the blue.

In the upcoming episodic detective mystery Ludwig (6 x 60, Big Talk Studios for BBC One) John ‘Ludwig’ Taylor’s (David Mitchell) identical twin, police detective James, disappears off the face of the earth and John, at his sister-in-law’s (Anna Maxwell Martin) request, must take over his brother’s identity in a quest to discover his whereabouts while learning he has a talent of his own for solving crimes.

Weaving in themes of climate change, politics and immigration into a powerful, one-of-a-kind TV adaptation of Peter Høeg’s ground-breaking 1993 novel, Smilla’s Sense of Snow (6x 60, Constantin Films for Viaplay) tells the multi-layered story of Smilla Jaspersen, a fascinating and unique heroine living in Copenhagen in 2035 – a futuristic world dominated by a looming energy crisis.

Buyers will also get a taste of the upcoming dramas Four Years Later, What It Feels Like For A Girl, the highly anticipated fourth season of post-apocalyptic drama Snowpiercer, as well as the new comedy Piglets.

New coming-of-age drama based on the memoir of an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and LGBTQ campaigner Paris Lees, What It Feels Like For A Girl (8 x 60, Hera for BBC), promises to be a bold, joyful and an unmissable TV event. Using distinctive visuals to take viewers on a wild ride of Y2K aesthetics, fashion and music, the riotously funny yet deeply personal and unflinchingly honest story is guaranteed to keep audiences hooked.

Four Years Later (8 x 30, Easy Tiger Productions for SBS), the intoxicating romantic drama from the makers of Colin From Accounts and The Twelve will also be showcased to buyers. The series follows newlyweds Yash and Sridevi’s turbulent time apart and subsequent reconnection between Jaipur, India, and Sydney, Australia. With two timelines, two worlds, told through dual perspectives, the series is a love story exploring intimacy and belonging.

Buyers will get a sneak peek of season four of the critically acclaimed post-apocalyptic drama Snowpiercer (Tomorrow Studios for AMC Networks), due to premiere on AMC and AMC+ in 2024. Set more than seven years after the world has become a frozen wasteland, the returning series is centred on the remnants of humanity who inhabit a perpetually moving train, with 1001 cars, that circles the globe. Snowpiercer stars Oscar® winner Jennifer Connelly, GRAMMY® and Tony® Award-winner Daveed Diggs,  Sean Bean, Rowan Blanchard, Emmy® nominee Alison Wright, Mickey Sumner, Iddo Goldberg, Katie McGuinness, Tony® Award-winner and GRAMMY® nominee  Lena Hall, Sam Otto, Chelsea Harris, Mike O’Malley, Roberto Urbina and Sheila Vand. Previously announced new cast members for season four include: Clark Gregg (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Avengers, Thor) and Tony® Award-winner Michael Aronov (The Drop, The Americans, Operation Finale).

Rounding out the slate is the brand new police-training ensemble comedy Piglets (Monicker Pictures for ITV), written by Victoria Pile, Robert Harley, James Henry, Oriane Messina and Fay Rusling – the team responsible for Green Wing and Campus (Channel 4) – and Omar Khan, a participant in the ITV Comedy Writers Initiative which aims to promote new writers underrepresented in comedy. The six-part series follows a newly recruited group of six very different would-be cops and the handful of key staff whose thankless task it is to knock them into some kind of shape.

Ruth Berry, Managing Director, Global Partnerships, ITV Studios said, “I’m delighted to showcase this outstanding slate including FOX’s highly anticipated character-led drama Murder in a Small Town and CW, ROKU and STAN’s police procedural Good Cop/Bad Cop alongside the best of UK, Australian and European scripted. All titles are high quality, bursting with talent and brilliant story-telling.”