News

Toronto/Munich, 13 February 2012. Shooting on Tom Fontana’s (“Borgia”) new event series COPPER has begun in Toronto. The visually opulent, dynamic and extraordinarily uncompromising social panorama, for which Beta Film holds the international and German rights, plays out in the crime- and corruption-ridden New York of the 1860s. The 10-part series will be shot in a studio and in historical buildings until May. After “Borgia,” COPPER is the second joint project of Jan Mojto’s Beta Film and the multiple Emmy Award-winning American author and show runner Tom Fontana (“Oz,” “Homicide: Life on the Street”). Produced by Atlantique and EOS for Canal+, his Renaissance event series “Borgia” obtained record ratings in Germany and Europe last fall. In COPPER, Tom Fontana joins forces with Showrunner Will Rokos (Monster’s Ball, Southland).

COPPER, a gripping crime series set in 1860s New York City, centres on Kevin Corcoran, an intense, rugged Irish-American cop working the city’s notorious Five Points neighbourhood. Corcoran is struggling to maintain his moral compass in a turbulent world, while on an emotional and relentless quest to learn the truth about the disappearance of his wife and the death of his daughter. His friendship with two Civil War compatriots – the wayward son of a wealthy industrialist and an African American physician who secretly assists Corcoran with his work – takes him to the contrasting worlds of elegant Fifth Avenue and an emerging African-American community in rural northern Manhattan. The three men share a secret from their experience on the battlefield that inextricably links their lives forever.

COPPER stars Tom Weston-Jones (MI-5, aka Spooks) as Detective Kevin Corcoran; Franka Potente (The Bourne Supremacy, Run Lola Run) as Eva Heissen, a shrewd businesswoman and the madam of Eva’s Paradise; Kyle Schmid (Blood Ties, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) as Robert Morehouse, a handsome bon vivant and part of Manhattan aristocracy; Anastasia Griffith (Royal Pains, Damages) as the sophisticated and spirited Elizabeth Haverford;; Ato Essandoh (Damages) as Doctor Matthew Freeman, who secretly assists Corcoran with his work; Kevin Ryan (Tripping Tommy) as Detective Francis Maguire, Corcoran’s closet friend and partner in the 6^th Precinct; Dylan Taylor (Covert Affairs) as Andrew O’Brien, colleague and companion to Corcoran and Maguire; Ron White (The Line) as Captain Ciaran Joseph Sullivan, who is more often concerned about his reputation than seeking justice for victims;  Kiara Glasco (Angel Duty) as Annie Reilly, a young runaway forced to grow up too quickly; Tessa Thompson (Heroes) as Sara Freeman, the fearful and anxious wife of Dr. Freeman; and David W. Keeley (Rookie Blue) as Sergeant Padraic Byrnes, a corrupt and contemptuous cop.

COPPER is a Cineflix (Copper) Inc. production in association with BBC AMERICA and Shaw Media. Tom Fontana and Among the co-executive producers on the series are Fontana, Rokos, Barry Levinson (Good Morning, Vietnam, Rain Man, You Don't Know Jack), Glen Salzman, Co-CEO of Cineflix Media, Sally Catto, Sam Berliner, and Christina Wayne, President of Cineflix Studios (Broken Trail, Executive In Charge-Mad Men). Series producers are Glen Salzman and Brad Van Arragon (Juno, Camelot).  Director of photography is Paul Sarossy (Chloe, The Borgias), production designer is John Blackie (Hell on Wheels) and Delphine White (Breakout Kings) is costume designer.