Irish Producer ShinAwiL Launches Drama Division With Aviation Period Thriller ‘Flying Blind’ & Crime Drama ‘Kill’

EXCLUSIVE: Irish producer ShinAwiL has launched a drama division and has set a slate that includes a crime drama from Ballykissangel writer Barry Devlin, a period drama from author Ann-Marie Casey and a tween Canadian co-pro.

The company, which is best known for producing Irish versions of unscripted hits such as Dancing with the Stars and The Voice, has tapped Vikings and The Borgias producer Aaron Farrell to run the unit with Mary Callery, former commissioning editor of drama at Irish public broadcaster RTE.

Related stories

Seth Meyers: Donald Trump Treats Vladimir Putin Like 12 Year-Old Meeting Mickey Mouse At Helsinki Summit

U2 Tweet On Ireland Abortion Referendum Draws Fire From Pro-Life Fans

Ireland Picks 'Song Of Granite' As Oscar Submission

ShinAwiL is launching its inaugural scripted slate ahead of Series Mania in Lille, France, where it will talk with broadcasters and production partners about its projects.

Kill is a six-part contemporary crime drama written by Devlin, who produced a number of music videos for U2 in the 1980s and has written episodes of The Darling Buds of May, PBS and BBC co-pro My Mother and Other Strangers and screenplay A Man of No Importance. Developed in partnership with RTE and Screen Ireland, it is a black comedy set in the unfortunately named tourist Irish hotspot of Kill, as local cop Tom Dolan struggles to solve a series of bizarre murders.

Flying Blind is a four-part period drama written by Casey, who wrote novels including An Englishwoman in New York as well as TV shows such as The Spy Who Caught A Cold, ITV’s Dangerous Lady and RTE medical drama The Clinic. In development with Screen Ireland, the series tells the story of the first nonstop Transatlantic flight in June 1919 when British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Brown flew a modified WWI Vickers Vimy bomber from St. John’s, Newfoundland to Connemara in Ireland.

Finally, Tara and The Humanimals is a 13-part tween drama, which is being developed in partnership with Canadian indie CCI Entertainment, The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and the Canadian Media Fund. The half-hour series is centered around a young girl sent to Ireland to live with her estranged father. She soon discovers that she’s a descendent of an ancient line of Druids and begins to explore her strange inherited powers.

“We’re excited to be heading to Series Mania with three exciting new drama projects in development with some of Ireland’s brightest writing and directing talent. We’re already in discussions with various distribution and broadcast partners and look forward to showcasing these fantastic projects to new co production partners in Lille,” said Larry Bass, CEO of ShinAwiL.

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.