Netflix has bought Melbourne-made series Small Time Gangster for UK, Australia and New Zealand, with more territories to be announced shortly.
Directed by Jeffrey Walker, with a cast including Steve Le Marquand, Gia Carides, Sacha Horler, Geoff Morrell and Gary Sweet, the series follows the misadventures of Tony Piccolo.
Piccolo is outwardly a devoted family man who earns his living cleaning carpets.
But he is also the toughest underworld enforcer in Melbourne. When Tony suddenly develops a conscience and his two worlds threaten to collide, he’s going to need more than just cleaning fluid to clear up the mess.
Gareth Calverley and Joss King created and wrote the show’s eight episodes.
Producer Gareth Calverley said: “We’re delighted that some of the 63 million people who subscribe to NETFLIX the world over will now have the opportunity to see the show.”
Distributed globally by DRG UK, the show was produced in 2010/11 by Melbourne-based production company Boilermaker Pty Ltd in partnership with Burberry Productions.
It was produced for The Movie Network by Gareth Calverley and Andrew McInally, with Peter Jenetsky, Tony Forrest, and Ewan Burnett as executive producers.
Producer Andrew McInally added, “It’s a testament to the quality of Small Time Gangster that a few years down the road it has been acquired by Netflix worldwide and successfully remade as “Umbre” by HBO Europe.”
After generating record audiences for The Movie Network in 2011/12, SBS Australia screened the series in 2013/14.
It was developed in partnership with Film Victoria and filmed on location in Melbourne, Victoria.
Jeffrey Walker was nominated for Best Director at the 2011 AACTA Awards and the show won the AWGIE for Best Original Mini-Series in the same year.