BBC America, HBO Canada fill Iron Belly with scripted deal

US cable channel BBC America and HBO Canada have jointly acquired the script for Iron Belly, a period drama set on a floating prison.

The pair acquired the script from Canada’s Darius Films and LA-based multimedia studio Electus, which will produce the show should the script to be taken to series.

Iron Belly comes from Canadian screenwriter and director Jonathan Sobol (A Beginner’s Guide to Endings) and a Lost Girl writer, Jeremy Boxen, both of whom are represented by Jeff Alpern from The Alpern Group.

The script tells the story of a floating prison sailing from Ireland to Australia. It is billed as moving from a “simple… but brutal” sea journey to a “a study of humanity above and below the decks”.

Electus International president John Pollak (pictured) is executive producing along with Electus CEO Chris Grant and Darius Films’ Nicholas Tabarrok.