Siobhán Cullen To Lead Irish Dark Comedy-Drama ‘Obituary’, Co-produced By Tua Films, APC Studios For Hulu
EXCLUSIVE: APC Studios UK and Irish independent production company Tua Films (aka Magamedia) are co-producing Irish dark comedy-crime drama Obituary exclusively in the U.S. for streaming service Hulu, with RTé in Ireland pre-buying the series.
Irish TV and theatre actress Siobhán Cullen, whose recent credits include family comedy-drama The Dry and crime drama The Long Call, stars as Elvira Clancy, an obituarist working at a small-town newspaper, who suddenly finds herself being paid by the obituary due to cuts.
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When she “accidentally” kills a nasty piece of work, she discovers she might have an untapped bloodlust, and sets her sights on other unpleasant residents of the town. Her killing spree hits a potential snag when the paper hires an attractive crime correspondent.
The six-part series is written by Irish scriptwriter Ray Lawlor (Le Ceangal), directed by John Hayes (Dublin Murders, Bancroft) and produced by Nell Green (The Outfit, The Undeclared War).
APC Studios’ Laurent Boissel and Magamedia’s Paddy Hayes are executive producers of the series which is being made in association with Fís éireann/ Screen Ireland, BAI and The Wrap Fund.
“It has been a blast pitching this wonderful high-concept drama to various funders and broadcast partners over the past few years — an obituarist who resorts to murder to stay in a job,” they said in a joint statement.
“We’re genuinely thrilled that Hulu and RTE are already on board and it’s super exciting to be bringing it into production now in the West of Ireland,” said Boissel and Hayes.
Obituary goes into production in Ireland in 2023 and will exclusively premiere on Hulu in the U.S. later that year.
It marks the latest Irish drama series to attract U.S. investment, coming after Lionsgate boarded TG4 and Streamz drama series Northern Lights, as Deadline revealed at the time.
Cullen is currently filming Bodkin for Netflix, following a critically acclaimed run alongside Ralph Fiennes in Straight Line Crazy at The Bridge Theatre.
Paris-based independent production and distribution company APC Studios is headed by Emmanuelle Guilbart and Boissel. Its APC Studios UK recently produced WOLF for the BBC in co-production with Hartswood Films and The Light in the Hall with Duchess Productions and Triongl for S4C, Channel 4 and Sundance Now.
Galway-based Tua has over 20 years’ experience in the Irish entertainment industry, with recent credits including Irish Oscar entry Foscadh and TV drama winning Corp + Anam starring Maria Doyle Kennedy and the teen musical comedy-drama EIPIC.
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