From Torchwood’s science-fiction set in the present, to Spartacus: Gods of the Arena’s gladiatorial glory in ancient Rome, Starz has shown itself to be open original programming with a more mature bent.
Now, Starz is going to one of America’s most glamorous cities – at a time when it was at its peak – Miami! The network has greenlighted Magic City, from Mitch Glazer [Scrooged, The Recruit] – a new series, set in the 1950s, centered around the Miramar Hotel, one of the city’s showpieces. It’s the place where you can see Frank Sinatra ring in the new year, or take cha-cha lessons by the pool – while the Mob is ever present, waiting to move in to take a piece of the action.
Casting will begin soon and production will begin in the new year, looking at being on the air in 2012. Series description and other details from the press release follow the jump.
STARZ FINDS ‘MAGIC’ IN MIAMI SERIES
Ambition, Passion and Family … All Drive ‘Magic City,’
Set in the Glamorous Miami Beach of 50 Years Ago
Ten-Episode Original Series Checks in at Starz for Debut in 2012
Beverly Hills, CA – December 6, 2010 – Starz Entertainment has greenlit “Magic City,” an exciting new series centered around a hotel in the heart of sexy, exciting Miami at the dawn of the 1960s, from writer/producer Mitch Glazer and executive producers Geyer Kosinski and Tony To, Starz, LLC, President and CEO Chris Albrecht announced today.
Casting will begin soon on the 10-episode dramatic series that will start production in the new year in Miami, and will air on Starz in 2012.
As Frank Sinatra rings in a new year in the grand ballroom of Miami Beach’s most luxurious dream palace – the Miramar Hotel – its visionary leader, Ike Evans, must deal with the Mob, his complicated family and a city in the midst of dramatic change as Fidel Castro takes control of Cuba, just 200 miles offshore. By day the hotel at the center of “Magic City” is all diving clown acts and cha-cha lessons by the pool, but at night Miami Beach reveals a darker truth. Dopers, dealers, strippers, gangsters and those who arrest them drift together to hear the top nightclub acts perform. Just beneath the surface, racial tensions stir. Ike must deal with all of this, even while global intrigue is brewing right under his roof.
“Mitch has created a world populated with unforgettable characters and with a big, dynamic story,” Albrecht notes. “The talented creative team that has come together for ‘Magic City’ will ensure a show that we think audiences won’t want to miss.”
“"I was born and raised in Miami Beach, grew up in those swank hotel lobbies. I love that world and those stories,” Glazer adds. “Miami in the early ’60s was a tropical crossroads, America’s Casablanca – the Rat Pack, CIA, the mob, JFK and anti-Castro warriors — all hanging out in the same Collins Avenue nightclub.”
“Magic City” was conceived by Glazer (The Recruit, Scrooged), who is writing the first three episodes and eight episodes overall. The show is being produced by Media Talent Group, with its CEO Geyer Kosinski (“Going to California,” “Hope & Faith,” Beyond Borders) executive producing along with Tony To (“From the Earth to the Moon,” “Band of Brothers”). “Magic City” joins a lineup of memorable TV entertainment from Starz. Debuting Jan. 21, 2011 is the six-episode “Spartacus: Gods of the Arena,” starring John Hannah, Lucy Lawless and newcomer Dustin Clare as Gannicus. It is followed in spring of 2011 by “Camelot,” a fresh retelling of the King Arthur legend starring Jamie Campbell Bower, Joseph Fiennes and Eva Green, an Irish-Canadian production from GK-TV, co-produced by Irish production company Octagon, UK’s Ecosse Films and Take 5 Productions in Canada. Then, later in the year, Starz will debut “Torchwood: The New World,” a co-production with BBC Worldwide that stars John Barrowman and Eve Myles, with additional casting due soon.