FME Preps Le Mans Drama

LONDON: Boosting its drama slate, FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME) has optioned the rights to produce and distribute a series about drivers racing in Le Mans during the 1950s and 1960s.

The Drivers will be financed and packaged by FME in Europe before being sold into the U.S. and around the world, in line with the company’s recently announced strategy to bolster its English-language European drama offerings for the global market. This initiative is being led by Nathalie Drouaire, in association with Jeff Tahler. “We are putting significant resources behind our aggressive global drama push," said David Ellender, FME’s global CEO. "In addition to The Drivers, we have many projects in development and are currently looking for more. The Drivers is an exciting property with true transatlantic appeal that lends itself to our expertise in extending brands to their full potential across multiple platforms.”

The Drivers will be co-produced by Sennet Entertainment and Headline Pictures. It will be based on the book Shelby: The Man, The Cars, the Legend by Wallace A.Wyss, optioned from Iconografix.

FME is also entering a first look deal with Headline Pictures in London and with Sennet Entertainment in the U.S. to develop long-form content.