ZDF Enterprises partners with Endor Productions on new crime thriller 'A State Of Grace'
London and Mainz, March 21st, 2022
Germany’s ZDF Enterprises and award-winning British film and TV production company Endor Productions have teamed up to develop and co-produce a brand new drama, A State Of Grace (6 x 60’), based on the international bestselling novels by M. J. Arlidge.
Screenwriter and author Arlidge (Mistresses, Silent Witness, Cape Wrath) will be adapting the first book Eeny Meeny from his D.I Helen Grace series of ten novels for television and will also be serving as an Executive Producer alongside Endor’s Carlo Dusi. The deal was brokered by Yi Qiao, Director ZDFE.drama for ZDF Enterprises, who will be responsible for worldwide sales, with Carlo Dusi.Yi Qiao and Hilary Bevan Jones will also Executive Produce.
The female-led thriller centers around Helen Grace, the UK’s most unconventional, most explosive crime fighter. A Detective Inspector at Southampton Central, Helen is used to putting her body on the line, as she chases down murderers, rapists and gangland criminals. The higher the stakes, the harder Helen fights, but this leather-clad, Kawasaki-riding heroine is about to come face to face with a once-in-a-generation criminal – a devious and macabre serial killer whose reign of terror will prove to be as shocking as it is blood-soaked.
Author, writer and Executive Producer M.J. Arlidge says: “Helen Grace is the Dark Knight of Southampton, a troubled, brooding but exceptional crime fighter, whose taste for action is matched by her seering intelligence and moral courage. A fierce protector of the weak and vulnerable, Helen lives and breathes her job with a passion few can match. Remorseless, determined, kind and courageous, she is every criminal’s worst nightmare and every crime reader’s dream. Over the past ten years, I have had enormous fun bringing Helen Grace to life on the page - I can’t wait now to introduce her to TV viewers.”
Yi Qiao, Director ZDFE.drama, ZDF Enterprises. says: “We are delighted to be partnering with Endor Productions on the bestselling Helen Grace series. Matt Arlidge’s brilliant storytelling together with Endor’s skills at producing premium dramas and their access to talent makes for a winning combination, and I can’t wait to see this thriller develop into a binge-worthy series.”
Endor Productions’ Managing Director Carlo Dusi says: “I am delighted to be launching our partnership with Yi Qiao and the great team at ZDF Enterprises with our adaptation of Matt Arlidge’s brilliant novel Eeny Meeny. Hilary and I fell in love with the formidable Helen Grace from our very first read, and are truly excited to be working with a writer of many talents such as Matt in bringing his chilling, unputdownable novels to the screen.
A State Of Grace is co-produced by Endor Productions and ZDF Enterprises.
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About Endor Productions
Endor Productions, a Red Arrow Studios company, is known for its award-winning international television. Founded by Hilary Bevan Jones, Endor has a vibrant slate of film and television including: Vienna Blood – two seasons completed for ORF (Austria) and ZDF (Germany) and sold to BBC Two (UK) and PBS (US); Neil Gaiman’s international best-selling novel Anansi Boys for Amazon Studios currently shooting in Scotland; forthcoming film for BBC One (UK), But When We Dance; two seasons of Matthew Parkhill’s Deep State - the first scripted drama series commission from Fox Networks Group Europe & Africa; gothic drama film Gwen directed by William McGregor and starring Maxine Peake and Eleanor Worthington-Cox; Restless, written by William Boyd and starring Hayley Atwell, Rufus Sewell and Charlotte Rampling; The Escape Artist, a legal thriller written by David Wolstencroft and starring David Tennant, Toby Kebbell, and Sophie Okonedo.
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About ZDF Enterprises
ZDF Enterprises was founded in 1993 and is responsible for worldwide program distribution, international co-productions, program acquisition as well as the merchandising of strong program brands in its own name, for broadcaster ZDF, and for third parties. Bound into a strong group of 30 direct and indirect subsidiaries and affiliated companies, ZDF Enterprises manages the largest German-language program stock worldwide and an impressive portfolio of international productions, consisting of series and miniseries, TV movies, documentaries and children’s programs. ZDF Enterprises provides a comprehensive, full-service offering and covers every step in the chain of creation and exploitation of successful content, from development to production and marketing.
Contact ZDF Enterprises
Christine Denilauler (Vice President Marketing and Corporate Communications), ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Erich-Dombrowski-Str. 1, D-55127 Mainz/Germany, tel.: +49 6131-9911130, e-mail: christine.denilauler@zdf-enterprises.de, www.zdf-enterprises.de