MIPTV Hot Pick: Harry Bosch

In the summer of 2012, Red Arrow International announced that it was teaming up with Red Arrow-owned production company Fabrik (formerly Fuse) on a TV adaption of Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch detective novels.

Now, on the eve of MIPTV, the company is ready to meet buyers and explain why Bosch can become an enduring TV franchise.

“One big thing we have in our favour is that Harry Bosch books have a fan base all over the world,” says Red Arrow International CEO Jens Richter. “Michael Connelly has written 18 books so far and sold 40 million copies. He hasn’t finished yet, which means we are talking about a living franchise.”

Why has it not been adapted before now?

“Michael regained control of the remake rights last year after they’d spent ten years with a movie studio,” explains Richter. “The TV market has changed a lot since then and now he sees TV as the right platform for Harry Bosch.”

The writer-producer for the adaptation is Eric Overmyer, whose credits include The Wire and Homicide: Life on the Street. Also key to the project is Henrik Bastin, CEO of Fabrik, who will be executive produce the show alongside Connelly and Overmyer.

The TV series will stick closely to the books, which are based in LA. “The one difference is that Harry is a Vietnam vet in the books. In the series, he will have served in Afghanistan.”

The goal is to get a US channel on board, with a view to entering production in late 2013. “But there is already a lot of interest from international buyers,” says Richter. “If you look at another of our drama projects Jo, you can see that big free-to-air and pay TV channels like TF1, ProSieben, RAI and Fox are all keen to get involved early. And with the growing involvement of subscription-video-on-demand players like Netflix, HBO Nordic and Amazon, the financing of quality drama TV series is very flexible now.”

The show: Harry Bosch

The Producers: Fabrik Entertainment, Red Arrow International

The Distributor: Red Arrow International

The broadcaster: TBA

Concept: Detective stories about a maverick cop who works for Hollywood Homicide, based on the best-selling books