Walter Presents Picks Up Russia’s Gold Diggers

The first season of Gold Diggers (a.k.a. Russian Affairs), a crime drama set among Moscow’s oligarch-led high society, has been acquired by Walter Presents in the U.K.

The eight-part drama series comes from Start Studios. It has been a hit in Russia, garnering 15 million viewers for season one on the streamer Start. Season two is currently on air and is again the number one show in Russia.

Gold Diggers dives deep into the relationships between power, money and sex, the unbreakable threads tying Russian society’s elite together.

Walter Iuzzolino, co-founder and curator of Walter Presents, said: “Gold Diggers is a riveting Russia series about desire, manipulation and the corrupting power of money—a glamorous modern-day Dynasty set amongst the rich and beautiful in contemporary Moscow. It’s a sassy, lavish and unmissable saga of lost innocence, sexual manipulation and greed, and unlike any Russian series I have ever seen before.

“A smash hit in its country of origin, with multiple seasons in development, this is a piece which will delight lovers of international drama around the world and I am delighted to be able to bring it to Walter Presents viewers in the U.K.”

Dariaa Bondarenko, executive VP of international acquisitions, development and co-production at Yellow, Black and White Group, said: “It’s an honor to be selected by Walter Presents, it is the home for international drama in the U.K., and we can’t wait to see how Gold Diggers is received by U.K. audiences. Gold Diggers is a fantastic ensemble show, featuring some of Russia’s best talent in-front and behind the camera. It’s ostentatious, racy and intriguing and gives viewers a tantalizing ring-side seat to the fictionalized world of Russian oligarchs, their mistresses, money, wives and lives.”