Lionsgate Television Boards Dublin-Set Drama Series ‘Northern Lights’ Starring Elva Trill & Stephen Jones
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EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate Television has come on board the Irish-Belgian drama series co-production Northern Lights.
The North American studio will handle all global sales (except Ireland) for the series, which is set in Dublin and billed as a “compelling saga of grief, human connection and the power of hope and humor in the face of darkness and adversity.” It runs to six episodes and is for Irish national broadcaster TG4 and Belgian VoD service Streamz, in association with Screen Ireland.
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Elva Trill, who appeared in Jurassic World: Dominion and the BBC drama Line of Duty, stars opposite writer and creator Stephen Jones (Red Rock). Tom Hall, who directed episodes of Prime Video’s rom-com series Modern Love, is lead director, with Ruth Meehan (The Bright Side) and Anthony Schatteman (Panna/L’homme inconnu) also directing.
Northern Lights tells the story of two grieving strangers whose worlds collide on a rainy night in Dublin and revelations, confessions, secrets and lies follow. It’s being billed as “a charming, intimate, funny, and realistic depiction of modern-day Dubliners, living, loving, grieving, and fighting back.”
For Jones, who also plays the lead role of Lloyd, the series marks his first written for TV, having been adapted from his award-winning play of the same name. His TV acting credits include Love/Hate, Nowhere Fast, Amber, The Queen vs. Patrick O’Donnell and Irish soap Red Rock in the leading role of gangster Francis “Laser” Byrne.
Emerging star Trill plays opposite him as Áine, with Jennifer Heylen (H4Z4RD, Two Summers) and Jay Duffy (My Left Nut, Playground) also cast.
The show is an Irish and Belgian co-production from Moone Boy, Women on the Verge and Four Kids and It producer Deadpan Pictures and Potemkino for TG4 and Streamz, the Belgian streamer that DPG Media and Telenet launched two years ago. Lionsgate sold Brussels-based Potemkino’s political drama series Cold Courage internationally, placing it with BritBox in the UK back in 2020.
The series is funded by Lionsgate, Screen Ireland, Screen Flanders and TG4 with support from Creative Europe Media slate funding, the Irish government’s Section 481 incentive scheme and the Belgian tax shelter.
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“Northern Lights is a universal story, and we look forward to sharing this gripping series with a global audience,” said Marc Lorber, SVP International Co-productions and Acquisitions at Lionsgate.
Máire Ní Chonláin, TG4 executive producer, said: “Having worked with Stephen Jones as an actor in TG4’s The Queen V’s Patrick O’Donnell, we are delighted to work with him again to bring the adaptation of his award-winning play Northern Lights to TG4. The authenticity of voice and the warm, humorous treatment of such difficult themes set the series apart.”
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