NEWS - HAVEN

Latest on Haven

Posted: February 5, 2010, 20:53

Here is the latest news about Haven:

SyFy announced it has cast Emily Rose ("John From Cincinnati") as the lead in its upcoming series "Haven," which the network said will premiere later this year.

Based on the Stephen King novella "The Colorado Kid," "Haven" will begin production in the spring in Canada.

Rose will play FBI agent Audrey Parker, who investigates a murder in the small town of Haven, Maine, and finds herself caught up in a web of supernatural activity among its citizens.

Rose has had several key recurring roles since appearing as Cass on "John From Cincinnati." She played Lena Branigan on "Brothers and Sisters," Trish Merrick on "Jericho" and Tracy Martin on "ER." She was also the lead in the USA pilot "Operating Instructions."

E1 Entertainment is producing "Haven," which is co-financed by Universal Netwowrks Intl. and is the first series to be produced for SyFy's international outlets (except in Scandinavia and, ironically, Canada). E1 is handling international distribution.

Scott Shepard ("The Dead Zone") is the series' showrunner, with Lloyd Segan, Shawn Piller and E1's John Morayniss and Noreen Halpern exec producing. Pilot scribes Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn also are exec producers.

Thanks to Bev Vincent.

13 episodes of Haven ordered

Posted: December 1, 2009, 07:56

SciFi wire reports taht Syfy has ordered 13 episodes of Haven, a new series based on a Stephen King novella, about a town for cursed people in exile. The show is based on King's The Colorado Kid.

Haven centers on a spooky town in Maine where cursed folk live normal lives in exile. When those curses start returning, FBI agent Audrey Parker is brought in to keep supernatural forces at bay—while trying to unravel the mysteries of Haven.

Scott Shepherd is the show runner and serves as executive producer along with Lloyd Segan and Shawn Piller. All were producers of USA's much-loved and much-missed The Dead Zone, which ran for six seasons and went off the air in 2008.

Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn are writing the pilot and will also serve as executive producers.

The show will air sometime next year.

Below is the full announcement:

Read the complete text

Thanks to Al Mattice

Segan talks Haven

Posted: November 26, 2009, 16:18

Here is an interview with Lloyd Segan in which he talks about the upcoming TV series Haven based on King's The Colorado Kid.

Thanks to Ed.

King NOT involved in Haven

Posted: October 8, 2009, 15:02

Yesterday quite a few articles on the net indicated that King was personally involved with the production of Haven but now it's clear that he is NOT. This was posted on the official message board:

Steve hadn't mentioned this project to me so it came out of the blue when I saw the Google alert. I emailed Steve to find out what the deal was and this is his response which he gave me permission to post:

"I'm not personally involved, and the concept is much more X-Files than it is The Colorado Kid. I okayed the pilot script, which is good (or was, as of the last draft), but there's no possessory credit, as in "Stephen King's The Colorado Kid," and that should tell you something. Basically, they're doing their own thing, and given the less than lyrical reader and critical reaction to the story as published in Hardcase Crime, that's okay with me."

More Haven

Posted: October 6, 2009, 16:45

More about Haven from The Blobe and Mail:

Stephen King has penned some of the literary world's most memorable horror novels, from Carrie to The Shining. But what in the name of Cujo could possibly send shivers up the author's spine?

The answer has finally come: U.S. television studios.

In a deal that will be announced today in Cannes, France, Mr. King has partnered with Canadian television producer E1 Entertainment Inc. to make his latest creation, a television series titled Haven, based on his best-selling novella The Colorado Kid.

It is a deal that shatters the conventions of big-budget television productions. Rather than take his concept directly to a Hollywood studio, the author has specifically gone outside of the U.S. in order to retain more creative control over how the series is made.

When complete, Haven will be offered up to networks to buy, but the author is strategically looking to avoid the studio formula of producing a pilot episode, then hoping it generates enough interest to be picked up for a whole season. Instead, Toronto-based E1 will make an entire season - 13 one-hour episodes - before it is shopped to broadcasters in several countries, including the U.S.

"He had his reasons. He might have been disillusioned a little with the development process in the U.S.," Peter Emerson, president of E1's television division, said of Mr. King's decision to partner with the Canadian company.

"He wants to be able to do it without putting it through a studio that's going to pay 100 per cent of it and consequently have that control. ... That created a unique problem for us, because that's not normally how the business works. Normally you get the U.S. studios involved first and then sell internationally."

Mr. King is not commenting on the deal. However, the author is said to have been upset with the treatment of some of his work on television and in films, and also wants to retain a greater share of the proceeds from Haven than he would if the rights were bought by a studio.

The concept of making a complete season is outside the norm for the big TV studios, which want to limit their financial risk if a show stumbles in its first few episodes. However, the full-season model has been increasingly used by premium cable networks, such as HBO and Showtime, and other cable outlets to develop more complete storylines.

Mr. King, who has sold more than 300 million horror novels in his career, began talking to E1 last year when he decided to adapt The Colorado Kid to television. The story is based on the cursed residents of a small town in Maine. E1 was initially approached by Mr. King's agent, Los Angeles-based Creative Artists Agency, based on its past work making shows for U.S. and Canadian networks.

The company has helped make Hung for HBO, The Bridge for CBS and CTV, and Copper for ABC and Global Television. To secure the financing needed to make a TV series that is network quality, E1 needed a partner to help it foot the bill of more than $2-million (U.S.) an episode for Haven.

For that, E1 turned to the international arm of NBC's production studio, Universal Networks International. In exchange for putting up some of the production budget, Universal will get the rights to show Haven on pay-television channels outside North America and Scandinavia. E1 is free to sell the show in North America, noting that it will likely end up on science fiction channels on cable. Though Universal is connected to NBC in the U.S., the network has no claim over Mr. King's series.

The U.S. studio model has been in flux since the Hollywood writer's strike two years ago forced the major networks to look beyond heir own operations for new shows. Roma Khanna, president of Universal's international operations, said the deal is a nod to the increasing quality of Canadian productions and a sign of the shift in the U.S. market.

"It says a lot of the production world that we're in now, to think outside the traditional U.S. studio system," said Ms. Khanna, a former executive with CHUM Ltd. in Toronto who moved to Universal's London office three years ago.

Thanks to Bev Vincent

Looks good for Haven

Posted: October 6, 2009, 16:44

It looks good for Haven. This was reported by Variety today:

Universal Networks finds 'Haven'

Global dvision to co-finance Stephen King drama
By MICHAEL SCHNEIDERMore

Universal Networks Intl., the newly rebranded global channels unit of NBC Universal, has signed on to co-finance the Stephen King drama "Haven."

In the case of "Haven," E1 Entertainment is behind the show -- based on the King novella "The Colorado Kid" -- and will produce 13 episodes (Daily Variety, Sept. 28). Universal has acquired exclusive pay TV rights across the globe except for the U.S., Canada and Scandinavia, where distribution is still being sought.

Deal reps E1's first major pact with Universal Networks Intl.

Thanks to Marcus

The Colorado Kid becoming Haven

Posted: September 29, 2009, 13:53

According to Variety, E1 Entertainment has committed to 13 hour-long episodes adapting Stephen King’s novella The Colorado Kid into a television series called Haven.

Scott Shepherd will serve as showrunner and exec produce with Lloyd Segan and Shawn Piller, all three of whom were exec producers on USA Network's version of The Dead Zone.

Two more Dead Zone alumni, Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn, are writing the pilot and will also serve as exec producers.

The report describes the project as, “centers on a spooky town in Maine where cursed folk live normal lives in exile. When those curses start returning, FBI agent Audrey Parker is brought in to keep those supernatural forces at bay — while trying to unravel the mysteries of Haven.”

E1 is in advanced talks with several European broadcast partners to sign on and help finance the show. After securing an international partner, the company will turn its attention to finding U.S. and Canadian broadcasters.

Thanks to Bev Vincent

More Colorado Kid TV

Posted: November 30, 2007, 00:10

Here are more info about the possible TV series based on The Colorado Kid:

ROCKY MOUNTAIN GUY
by Lynette Rice

While the strike could throw a wrench into all current development, ABC has a provocative new drama in the works that's loosely based on Stephen King's 2005 mystery novel The Colorado Kid. The author and EW columnist describes the script, from The Dead Zone's Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn, as "closer to The X-Files than Supernatural." King will have a small stake in the show (currently dubbed Sanctuary) should it go to series, "but it's not something that keeps me up nights, the way Kingdom Hospital did."

Thanks to willowlove

The Colorado Kid on TV?

Posted: November 27, 2007, 23:15

There seams to be info in the last issue of Entertainment Weekly (with J.K. Rowling on the cover as Entertainer of the Year) about a possible TV series loosely based on The Colorado Kid in the future. Hopefully more info will come soon.

Thanks to Mark Allan Reynolds

NEWS - HAVEN

Latest on Haven

13 episodes of Haven ordered

Segan talks Haven

King NOT involved in Haven

More Haven

Looks good for Haven

The Colorado Kid becoming Haven

More Colorado Kid TV

The Colorado Kid on TV?

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