Anna Pigeon | Features | Broadcast

This crime procedural was not solely among the many first exhibits to be confirmed on USA Network’s inaugural slate following its Versant transfer, it is also the primary time that the channel has co-commissioned with Canada’s Bell Media.

The journey to get the undertaking onto display, nonetheless, was removed from easy.

“It was a long and winding road to bring Anna Pigeon to life,” says Brett Burlock, govt producer at Cineflix, “informed by unbridled passion, doggedness and some serendipitous timing.”

The 10-part collection relies on Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon novels, whose rights had been held by director Lea Thompson. “Lea was approached a few years ago by exec producer Todd Berger, who brought Cineflix into the project, which really took flight with the creative involvement of showrunner Morwyn Brebner, with whom we had previously worked on Coroner,” Burlock says.

The authenticity of lead character Anna Pigeon, performed by Chicago PD star Tracy Spiridakos, instantly appealed to Brebner, as he instructed the story round her profession shift to grow to be a crime-solving park ranger after a devastating loss.

Around the identical time, USA Network was trying to reignite its character-driven, blue-sky procedural model, below Michael Sluchan, who had developed the Anna Pigeon novels some 20 years earlier than at NBC.

“The project really took flight with the creative involvement of showrunner Morwyn Brebner, with whom we had previously worked on Coroner”
Brett Burlock

His data of the IP helped to propel the present ahead, with a solid that features Paulina Alexis (Reservation Dogs) and Ronnie Rowe (Star Trek: Discovery) then being assembled, alongside Brebner showrunning and Lea Thompson (Resident Alien) directing.

But having bought the present as being “a blue-sky series set in a gorgeous national park”, as Burlock places it, the problem then turned discovering a location that delivered. After many discussions and a few intrepid scouting within the lifeless of winter, a location within the Canadian state of Alberta was discovered.

“We were fortunate enough to find a backlot abutting a park that had glorious backdrops, including a fast-running river, a lush, verdant forest and a number of pre-existing structures, including log cabins and a charming gazebo,” says Burlock. “Along with spectacular mountain locations within a short drive of the backlot, we found an embarrassment of visual riches to accompany that abundant blue sky.”

Burlock describes Spiridakos as “a wickedly talented actor,” however admits that the crew weren’t positive what to anticipate “once we were actually shooting outside in the elements with Anna riding a horse, climbing a tree or wrestling a bad guy to the forest floor.”

But the Cineflix exec says she introduced “a fiery combination of intelligence, physicality, humor and sexiness to the decidedly modern character of Anna Pigeon that audiences will definitely fall hard for.”

The huge vistas and storylines that revolve round Pigeon’s crime-solving will have interaction audiences, Burlock says, whereas the mix of every episode delivering a standalone thriller coupled with “a strong serial spine” throughout the season will entice returning viewers, provides Tom Misselbrook, senior vice-president of scripted improvement at Cineflix Rights.

“We’re not in city streets or interrogation rooms. We’re in a vast wilderness that becomes a character in its own right. It’s a procedural you can drop into – but once you’re in, you have to keep watching.”