‘Shadowland’ Wildlife Crime Thriller Series From Jacqui Barcos, Darnell Martin, Athena Pictures & Starlings Television In The Works

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: Sarena Khan and Andra Gordon’s Athena Pictures and Starlings Television, led by Chris Philip, have teamed with Propagate Content’s Ben Silverman to co-produce Shadowland, a female-driven wildlife crime thriller series, from Jacqui Barcos, director Darnell Martin (American Rust, The Good Lord Bird) and executive producer Peter Elkoff (Sons of Anarchy, Chance).Shadowland is based on the real-life experiences of two wildlife crime operatives, both former U.S.

special operations counter-terrorism specialists with decades of combined experience working in some of the most dangerous places in the world, now dedicated to uncovering the real drivers behind Africa’s wildlife crime crisis.After Khan, Gordon and Barcos landed the story rights in a highly competitive bidding process, Barcos and Khan embarked on an undercover trip to South Africa with the operatives to research the project firsthand.

In the vein of The Wire, Shadowland delves into both the socio- economic factors behind wildlife crime as well as the shocking, unspoken truth behind Africa’s dire poaching crisis: the guardians installed to protect endangered wildlife are, in fact, often the worst offenders.The story follows a fierce and reclusive female wildlife activist who is thrown together with a reticent special operations vet to uncover a plot to ambush a rhino translocation caravan – ultimately, the flawed pair expose a massive web of corruption, taking it apart piece by piece.

Based on real people and events, producers say “Shadowland is in the end a love story set against a backdrop that is quintessentially African: beautiful and stark, fraught and hopeful, a land of life and death, of light and shadow.”Nordic Entertainment Group streamer Viaplay