Acorn TV Commissions Cannes Confidential Procedural

AMC Networks’ Acorn TV has ordered the new romantic procedural Cannes Confidential, an English-language drama to be produced and set on the Cote d’Azur.

The eight-part romantic procedural will blend comedy, mystery and crime detection with a love story. The co-creator and lead writer for the series is Chris Murray, a frequent writer for Acorn TV’s Agatha Raisin and writer for Van der Valk, Casualty and Midsomer Murders, and creator of BBC’s Doctors.

Cannes Confidential centers on the relationship between an idealistic, local underdog female cop and an ex-conman and master of counterfeit, who’s on the run from both the police and the mob.

The Acorn TV Original Series, from Dramacorp, is casting now. Production will begin in early 2021 and film across the renowned city of Cannes. The series will exclusively premiere on Acorn TV in North America, New Zealand, Australia and the U.K. in late 2021.

Catherine Mackin, managing director of Acorn Media Enterprises, said, “Acorn Media Enterprises is thrilled to commission this highly entertaining new procedural from prolific U.K. writer Chris Murray and Dramacorp. With its engaging, blue sky script and beautiful setting, Cannes Confidential is the kind of program the world could use right now and is sure to entertain Acorn TV subscribers worldwide.”

Patrick Nebout, CCO and executive producer of Dramacorp, said: “We are excited to have AMC’s Acorn TV board Cannes Confidential. There’s truly a shared vision of the show with Catherine and her team. As his credits prove, head writer Chris Murray has a genius for creating deeply loved and witty characters and stories that run and run. The setting of Cannes Confidential is upbeat, colorful and spectacular, the wittiness is there, yet Chris and Maria are developing multi-layered main characters and strong emotional arcs, taking the procedural genre into a more elevated and romantic direction. And then there’s that other star of the show, Cannes, which will bring its own magic and nostalgic touch to our story. We’re looking forward to delivering something unique and distinctively romantic, far from the tons of very dark shows that have taken over the international market.”