EXCLUSIVE: The fall TV selling season is off to a hot start with a star package triggering frenzied bidding and a slew of big offers from all major streamers, ultimately landing at HBO with a straight-to-series order. The Spread, headlined and executive produced by Oscar winner Javier Bardem, hails from Ozark co-creator Bill Dubuque, Sean Sansiveri and Fifth Season, with Kingsman helmer Matthew Vaughn set to direct.
The indie studio defied convention by taking the project out in August, usually considered a dead period with many executives on vacation as the TV business takes a breather before an expected post-Labor Day influx of pitches.
The timing proved fortuitous as The Spread sparked a lot of interest that translated into meetings and ultimately offers. According to sources, Netflix, Prime Video, Paramount+ and Apple TV all came in strong with offers that included a mix of writers rooms and straight-to-series orders. They were raised as the process went along, including a potential two-season pickup, I hear.
Word is that the two major streamers overseen by former Netflix executives who had worked with Dubuque on Ozark, Paramount+ (Cindy Holland) and Prime Video (Peter Frieldlander), were particularly aggressive, both making straight-to-series offers that were eventually matched by HBO which rarely commits to a series greenlight based off a pitch.
Written by Dubuque and Sansiveri, The Spread is set in Miami, which is turning paradise into power — Wall Street South — a subtropical collision of industry titans, elite hedge funds, staggering wealth, ruthless competition, sex, nightlife and fun on an industrial scale. Into this sun-soaked arena comes a visionary billionaire (Bardem) who collects the brilliant, the hungry and the dangerous, then turns their ambitions loose on the markets that power America. He chases something bigger: the power to shift the center of economic gravity to Miami — and decide how long the party lasts.
“Having long wanted to set a scripted series in Florida, HBO couldn’t be more excited to explore the gilded chaos of Miami and bring it to life with this kaleidoscope of extraordinary, visionary talent who is as fearless as the story itself,” said Francesca Orsi, EVP, HBO Programming, Head of HBO Drama Series and Films.
Bardem, Dubuque, Sean Sansiveri executive produce alongside Vaughn, who is set to direct, Brad Weston for Makeready, and Ian Stratford and Michael Bloom for Topic Studios. HBO will co-produce with Fifth Season.
This marks the first big sale for Fifth Season since the company earlier this year tapped Peter Traugott as President of Television. His No.2, EVP and Head of TV Creative Noah Greenshner, oversaw the project’s development.
“The Spread is a gripping story of power and ambition, set against the vivid, glamorous backdrop of Miami. We’ve brought together an exceptional creative team to capture the energy of this world and city, and we’re thrilled to be working alongside them and our partners at HBO, Makeready, and Topic to bring it to life,” Greenshner said.
Bardem, a four-time Oscar nominee and winner for No Country For Old Men, recently starred in and executive produced the Apple TV limited series Cape Fear and Netflix’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. He will next be seen reprising his role as Stilgar in Dune: Part Three. Bardem is repped by WME and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.
Dubuque is best known as co-creator and executive producer of Netflix’s hit drama series Ozark, starring Jason Bateman and Laure Linney, which ran for four seasons and won four Emmys. He recently executive produced Fifth Season’s Netflix limited series His & Hers, which made the streamer’s list of Top 10 most popular English series, and Peacock’s drama series M.I.A. Dubuque, writer of The Accountant movie franchise, is repped by WME.
Sansiveri has been moonlighting as a TV writer developing projects while working as general counsel and head of business affairs with the National Football League Players Association and its for-profit subsidiary, NFL Players Inc. He is repped by CAA.
Vaughn, also known for the Kick-Ass and The X-Men franchises, is repped by WME, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.
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