'Sins' revises Miami TV image
Detective series backed by Diller's USA Network
That image is about to get an update thanks to "Sins of the City," which Chesler/Perlmutter Prods., backed by Alliance Communications, is shooting for Barry Diller's USA Network. The detective series started lensing here this month, with the 13 segs (at a cost of $20 million) slated to begin airing in July.
Return to story
" 'Miami Vice' was a brilliant phenomenon, but it was impersonal, stylized and distant. Now people want a return to story, to feeling," says producer Lewis Chesler, whose credits include hit HBO series "The Hitchhiker" and "Strangers."
Created by Chesler and Steve Feke, "Sins" is less a police-procedure drama than an exploration into the ethically ambiguous nature of many crimes. Its hero is a private investigator with a keen sense of his own moral failings; its storylines don't always see tidy emotional resolutions and just desserts for the bad guys.
"Instead of coolness, we're showing a vibrant, lush, earthy Miami -- it's a city of temptation," Chesler adds. "And we're showing not just the Latin influence, but also the European infusion, which is much more noticeable than in 'Miami Vice's' day."
Ethnic soup
One thing that hasn't changed since "Vice" is Miami's rep as a hotbed of graft -- the city's mayor was replaced recently after a vote-rigging scandal --and "Sins" will tap that vein. It will also set episodes in such local contexts as the Orthodox Jewish community, the dark world of santeria (Cuban witchcraft) and the Everglades.
Star of the show is Marcus Graham, an Aussie actor best known for his legit work. Behind the camera, Chesler is placing young guns with feature credits, hoping that "Sins" will help their careers the way "Hitchhiker" brightened the resumes of Paul Verhoeven and Phillip Noyce.
The new pool includes Kari Skogland ("The Size of Watermelons"), Damian Harris ("The Rachel Papers"), Tim Hunter ("River's Edge") and Miami's own Leon Ichaso ("Bitter Sugar"). Alternating as d.p.'s are John Peters (HBO's "Double Tap") and Hubert Taczanowski ("Young Poisoner's Handbook").
Scaling down
Miami still lacks a Hollywood-style production campus, but Chesler says facils at North Miami's Greenwich Studios -- where "Sins" shoots once a week -- are fine. He adds: "You don't have the depth of acting talent here, but that goes for any city outside New York, L.A., Toronto."
Next week, Chesler will begin shuttling between Miami and Vancouver, where he's starting up another series for Diller: "Betaville," to show on the Sci Fi Channel.
Also next week, Miami will start to host another major series: "Maximum Bob," which Warner Bros. is shooting for ABC. A comedy-drama starring Beau Bridges as a hard-line judge, "Bob" will be based at the Miami Broadcast Center. Its setting, however, will be "somewhere in south Florida."
This upsurge in Miami-based TV production -- complemented by original fare for Barry Diller's soon-to-bow City Vision project -- suggests an improving perception in Hollywood of south Florida production costs, said Miami film commissioner Jeff Peel.
"A lot of the TV-location business has been going to Canada, so it's significant that 'Sins' is a Canadian project coming here," Peel added. Based on activity requiring location permits, $17 million was spent on TV production in Greater Miami last year, up from $3 million in 1996, and the leap will likely be greater in 1998.
