RTL Germany Boards eOne Drama Series Ransom

TORONTO: Production has begun on the 13-episode drama Ransom, which now counts Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland among the broadcasters on board for the series.

Ransom is created by David Vainola (Diamonds, Combat Hospital) and Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files, The Man in the High Castle). Entertainment One (eOne), Big Light Productions, Sienna Films and Wildcats Productions are involved in the project, which stars Luke Roberts (Black Sails, Wolf Hall, Game of Thrones) as expert hostage negotiator Eric Beaumont. The show is set to air on Global (Canada), TF1 (France), CBS (U.S.) and RTL (Germany).

Joining the cast as Beaumont’s team are Sarah Greene (Penny Dreadful, Burnt) as Maxine Carlson, a young newcomer eager to prove herself; Brandon Jay McLaren (Graceland, The Killing, Chicago Fire) as Oliver Yates, a psychological profiler; and Nazneen Contractor (Heroes Reborn, Covert Affairs, 24) as ex-cop Zara Hallam.

John Morayniss, the CEO of eOne Television, said: “We are thrilled to get cameras rolling on Ransom. With our incredibly talented cast and crew and our fantastic broadcast partners Global, TF1, CBS and RTL, we will deliver a gripping and addictive series to audiences around the globe.”

“My partners at eOne, Sienna Films and Wildcats Productions and I are incredibly excited to bring Ransom to life,” added Spotnitz, the chief executive of Big Light Productions and executive producer. “We have a fascinating cast of characters, led by Eric Beaumont, and thrilling stories about saving lives in extraordinarily difficult situations.”

Joerg Graf, the executive VP of production and international acquisitions at RTL, commented: “We are very happy to be part of Ransom, a co-production with both incredible talent on the creative side and strong partners TF1, CBS and Global on the network side. Ransom fits perfectly into our strategy to produce international procedural drama shows for our major channels RTL and VOX.”