‘House Of Cards’ Director, ‘Kajaki’ Writer & UK Producer Clipper Media Team With Finland’s Luminoir & MTV3 On Epic Noir Series ‘Emerald Eye’

Tom Grater
·2 min read

Click here to read the full article.

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s an intriguing TV project coming together across international boundaries. John David Coles, the U.S. director and exec producer on two series of House Of Cards, is working with Brit scribe Tom Williams (Kajaki) and UK producers Clipper Media on Emerald Eye, a noir thriller series set during the Bolshevik Revolution.

The team have now attached leading Finnish commercial broadcaster MTV3 and Finnish co-producers Markku Flink and Pauli Pent at their banner Luminoir (Viaplay and Lionsgate’s Cold Courage) to the English-language project. This is the first time that MTV has developed a drama series in English.

More from Deadline

Cole’s Talking Wall Pictures will produce alongside Clipper. The latter, founded by Michael Nakan and Jake Alexander, is a London-based company focused on international projects that has strong relationships in China. Clipper is working on further English-language projects in Germany and Sweden, and is also producing feminist horror anthology series Her Horror with RubyRock Pictures and WildBunch TV.

Emerald Eye is based on the seven Pekkala novels by Sam Eastland, which have been translated into 22 languages, and have sold more than one million copies. Set during the Bolshevik Revolution, the books chronicle the Tsar’s loyal agent Arno Pekkala, known as ‘Emerald Eye’, who is dispatched to his native Finland to disrupt a dangerous revolutionary cell from within.

“Emerald Eye will use the greatest revolution in history as a prism to examine our own times. Equal parts world-building genre thriller, character study, and visual feast, this is a story that urgently needs to be told.” said writer Williams on the project.

Alongside his work on House Of Cards, Coles’ credits also include NBCUniversal’s The Sinner, and directing stints on shows such as Homeland, Sex And the City, and The West Wing.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.