Production Begins on New HBO Europe Drama

WARSAW: HBO Europe has begun production on two original drama series in Poland: the brand-new Blinded by the Lights and season two of Wataha.

Blinded by the Lights is set in the run-up to Christmas, focusing on Warsaw’s top cocaine dealer as he plans a holiday getaway to Argentina. The six-parter is directed and co-written by Krzysztof Skonieczny from the novel by Jakub Żulczyk, who also co-wrote the screenplay.

Season two of Wataha will continue to focus on a border guard unit in the remote Bieszczady Mountains on the Polish border with Ukraine. The first season was the highest-rated premiere in HBO Poland’s history and aired on Channel 4’s Walter Presents in the U.K. The lead writer on the show is Piotr Szymanek.

Antony Root, executive VP of original programming and production at HBO Europe, noted, “Our continuing goal is to produce distinctive, high-quality drama for local audiences. We believe Blinded by the Lights, a story set in Warsaw’s demi-monde and showing off the city in a wholly new way, will not only appeal to Polish audiences but also to our subscribers all around the HBO Europe region. We are confident it will equally excite audiences internationally. Wataha, set in the rugged Bieszczady Mountains, has already proved its appeal to viewers having achieved huge ratings in Poland for its first season. It also played extremely successfully in the other HBO Europe territories and has sold in foreign markets. We are very excited by this new chapter and the way the writers explore some of the challenges now faced on Europe’s longest border.”