Endgame Offers Spin on Crime Procedurals

CANNES: The new Showcase Canada series Endgame, distributed outside of North America by Endemol Worldwide Distribution, is offering up a new take on the crime procedural genre, its star, Shawn Doyle, and creator, Avrum Jacobson, told World Screen Newsflash in Cannes.

"It’s another way of looking at a crime story," says Jacobson, creator and showrunner, in Cannes this week to launch the show to international buyers. "It’s not a dark show, it’s fun."

The series stars Doyle as a Russian chess champion who witnesses his fiance’s murder outside of the hotel they’re staying in. The trauma of that experience leaves Doyle’s character, Arkady Balagan, unable to leave his room without experiencing panic attacks. Confined to his hotel and in need of some cash, he begins using his analytical skills to solve crimes.

"The conceit of the show is that in order for me to figure out these puzzles, I often reenact the scenarios that could happen with these crimes, so I go into my imagination, Doyle says. "Neither the show nor I felt claustrophobic. The show feels very open."

Endemol is pitching the series to international buyers at MIPTV. Jacobson expects the worldwide market to respond well to the series. "It’s by its nature international. It takes place in a hotel, its [lead character] is Russian. Canada is a global place. it’s a country of immigrants. It taking place in Canada is a metaphor for it taking place in the world."

Doyle adds, "We’ve taken great pains to have a very multicultural cast. it feels like a microcosm of the world. It’s a real departure from the North American crime genre. It has whimsy and humor, yet it has gravitas and it has a tonality that’s much more accessible."