Producer Janice Eymann is teaming with Full Clip Productions’ Sam Worthington, John Schwarz and Michael Schwarz for an action TV series based on the Primal novels.
The books by Jack Silkstone (a nom de plume) follow a team of elite operatives recruited by a Pacific island-based Arab billionaire who is determined to bring peace to the world.
Each novel sees the agency waging a secret war against powerful criminals, greedy corporations and corrupt politicians, stepping in where governments fail.
Eymann (who was executive producer of Jon Amiel’s Creation) contacted 'Silkstone' and bought an option on the novels. Then she approached John Schwarz, who met with the producer and the author in Adelaide during the production of Deadline: Gallipoli, which Full Clip produced by Matchbox Pictures.
Full Clip has agreed to co-buy the option and to produce the series, with John Schwarz as the lead producer.
She tells IF she originally wrote a screenplay adapted from the novel Primal Unleashed as a feature film before deciding the project made more sense as a TV series. She envisions a big action series in the vein of Strike Back.
According to Amazon’s website, “Silkstone grew up on a steady diet of Tom Clancy, James Bond, Jason Bourne, Commando comics and the original first-person shooters, Wolfenstein and Doom.
“His background includes a career in military intelligence and special operations, working alongside some of the world's most elite units. His love of action-adventure stories, his military background, and his real-world experiences combined to inspire the no-holds-barred Primal series.
“Primal books are dedicated to those who have fought for a just cause.”
The producers have yet to decide whether to shoot the series in Australia or the US. The lead character, Bishop, is an Aussie.
Meanwhile Eymann is in advanced development on Mayday Hill, a horror/thriller inspired by true events at the former Beechworth Lunatic Asylum in Victoria, which closed in 1995 after being the centre of deaths, abuse and gruesome medical treatment.
The screenplay by Matthew Barker centres on a couple who visit the institution and are confronted by the horrors of the past. The director is Dean Francis, who made his feature debut with 2010’s Road Train.