Producer Dominic Barlow, whose credits include “The Last Kingdom,” “Mr. Selfridge,” and “Discovery of Witches,” has teamed up with writer-executive producer Brendan Foley on “The Angolan Clan,” which will be pitched at Toledo, Spain-based TV forum Conecta Fiction & Entertainment. U.K. startup development and finance company Telnet Screen Productions, led by Chris Lowery, Martin Panchaud and Nick Street, has also boarded the pic as a private equity investor.
“The Angolan Clan” is an action-drama thriller series centered on two women in their 30s: an English widow and a Spanish Angolan housekeeper who unexpectedly inherit a Spanish villa and ownership of a clandestine diamond company from the English woman’s father-in-law, who was also the Spanish woman’s employer. Together, they delve into the mystery of their shared inheritance, unraveling its origins amidst present-day London and Spain. The narrative weaves through the upheavals of Portugal’s Carnation Revolution in the 1970s and Angola’s tumultuous civil war in the 1980s, unveiling deep secrets buried in the past.
“The story, in the vein of ‘Sexy Beast,’ ‘Blood Diamond’ or ‘Succession,’ is based on IP – a series of four bestsellers by author and former telecoms entrepreneur Christopher Lowery, published in English and Portuguese with a Spanish edition in the pipeline. It is intended as a returning series, with each book as the basis of a season,” said Foley, who was a freelance journalist in Angola during the conflict.
He has already completed the first full season of six scripts, working alongside his wife, American writer Shelly Goldstein, with whom he collaborated on AMC+ and Viaplay’s “Cold Courage.”
“Our starting point sounds deceptively simple – to make compelling ‘high-end mainstream’ drama series that appeal internationally, at a very competitive price-point, with as few moving parts in the financing as possible,” said Barlow, who is based in Spain.
“We have looked at ways of shortening the production chain by having an entire season written up front, so broadcasters or distributors know what they are getting, not a bible and a promise,” Barlow noted, adding: “This has the added advantage of shortening the time from greenlight to screen by a year or 18 months. As fashions and viewing desires change rapidly, that shortened lead time can make all the difference between being perfect for the market rather than chasing last year’s wish list.”
Foley and Barlow will talk to broadcasters and distributors at Conecta and beyond, said Foley, who added that they “hope to shoot and deliver in 2025, filming in either Spain or Portugal and the U.K.”
“Between us, we have worked all over the world and love the quirks of different cultures and locations rather than regarding them as problems,” said Foley, who hails from Northern Ireland.
“Conecta will be something of firing the starter’s pistol for us with ‘The Angolan Clan.’ Like many in the industry, we have been looking at new models for both drama content creation and funding that will work for this project as a test case and ideally for multiple series beyond,” said Foley.
Two series Foley wrote are currently in production, “Sherlock & Daughter,” shooting in Dublin with David Thewlis and Dougray Scott with Starlings TV/StoryFirst, for CW in North America and TWD in the U.K. and Federation, plus Season 2 of Elisa Viihde’s hit “The Man Who Died,” now filming in Finland and Japan for ReelMedia, with Season one now on AMC+/Acorn TV in North America. Another project he wrote, “Tipping Point,” won the Series Mania award at the Berlinale Series Market in February.
Conecta Fiction & Entertainment runs June 18-21.
Source Agencies
