Halcyon Studios has brought on Phil Abraham to direct and executive produce the series “Beverly Hills Noir,” PvNew has learned exclusively.
Halcyon, a division of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, is producing the show, which is based on “Gemstone” by James Ellroy. Per the official logline, the show “follows two female detectives as they are sucked into the vortex of power, greed, and cold-blooded conspiracy in one of the most aspirational cities in the world, Beverly Hills.”
Ed Decter is writing the series and will also serve as executive producer and showrunner. Along with Decter and Abraham, Ellroy, Stewart Till, and Richard Potter also executive produce. No network or streaming service is currently attached to the project.
“When it comes to the greats of crime fiction, no one tackles the corruption of the American Dream quite like James Ellroy,” said Abraham. “The jewel heist that kicks off the action in ‘Beverly Hills Noir’ ensnares the powerful, the police, and the pawns in a web of moral ambiguity where light is dark, dark is light. Innocence and guilt are interchangeable. I could not be more thrilled to join my friends at Halcyon and Ed Decter in bringing this complex vision to life.”
Abraham previously earned four Emmy nominations for his work as cinematographer on “The Sopranos.” He then went on to work as cinematographer and director on “Mad Men.” Most recently, he worked as executive producer and director on Amazon’s “Hunters” and the upcoming Netflix series “FUBAR” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first TV starring role. His other credits include Netflix’s “Daredevil,” “The Walking Dead,” “Jack Ryan,” and “Bates Motel.” He is repped by CAA.
“From ‘The Sopranos’ to ‘Hunters,’ Phil has helped craft many of TV’s most unique location-specific character series, and as Ellroy himself wrote, ‘This town was made for fiction created out of oil, sunshine, and greed,'” said Matt Loze, president of scripted entertainment for Halcyon Studios.
