'Diamonds'
ABC has mined the international TV landscape for "Diamonds," picking up the four-hour movie starring Judy Davis and James Purefoy from Alchemy TV and Sienna Films.
Alphabet web plans to air the project in late May, but is still ironing out its early summer plans. "Diamonds" was financed outside of the U.S. and originally developed and produced for Canada's CBC by Sienna Films.
Alchemy TV put together the $15 million miniseries through a co-production between Canada and the U.K. Besides ABC and the CBC (which airs the longform in April), "Diamonds" already has been sold in territories including France (Canal Plus) and Spain (Antena 3).
"Diamonds" features five storylines linked to the "personal and political effects of the blood diamond trade on a global scale." Davis stars as a U.S. senator who travels to Africa to find out why her daughter was killed at a diamond mine in Sierra Leone.
Derek Jacobi, Louise Rose and Joanne Kelly also star, while Andy Wilson directed and David Vainola wrote. "Diamonds" was shot in South Africa and Canada.
Alchemy TV produced the longform "Coco Chanel" for Lifetime, Italy's RAI and France's FR2; company also is behind "Burn Up" for BBC and Global; and "Iron Road" for CBC.
"It's a big playing field, and much more advantageous than selling only into one market," said Alchemy TV CEO Carrie Stein, noting her shingle's status as a U.K.-based company with a head office in L.A. and projects set up all over the globe.
Contact Michael Schneider at
mike.schneider@variety.com