Gaumont sets Crosshair on European drama

Gaumont vice CEO Christophe Riandee said today that Europe is on the brink of its own ‘Golden Age’ of drama and, speaking at the Monte Carlo TV Film Festival, announced Crosshair, one of several new series coming out of its fledgling European division.

In a keynote address, Riandee (left) told Festival delegates that the European TV production community was gearing up. Hitherto, the drama ‘Golden Age’ has largely referred to series out of the US, most of which are serialised and play on cable networks or Netflix.

Crosshair differs from that template by coming out of Europe, and being a blend of the popular story-of-the-week procedural genre, with additional serialised arcs.

The thirteen-part series, which will be filmed in English, comes from Ken Sanzel, the showrunner behind US hits including Numb3rs, the procedural that aired on CBS. Crosshair follows a an ex-CIA agent now operating in Europe.

“We are starting to see a huge trend into drama production making Europe a new frontier for television and a project like Crosshair is the perfect fit. It’s a new idea and a new world for a procedural series,” commented Riandee.

Elizabeth Dreyer, head of international coproduction for Gaumont Television Europe, added: “Ken Sanzel has created a true-life, action-adventure thriller, with strong characters and a story that can move easily around Europe.  We’re delighted to have his expertise and vision on this show.”

Having set up its US TV division in 2010 and made series including Hannibal for NBC and Hemlock Grove for Netflix, Gaumont set up its new European division last year.

It has already announced period espionage series Spy City from William Boyd and 1001, a thriller from Real Humans writer Lars Lundström.

TBI understands several other projects from Gaumont Television Europe are in the offing, including a series adaptation of one of the studio’s movies and a period drama from a high-profile European writer.