Kate Dennis.
Kate Dennis, one of the large band of Australian directors who have been forging successful careers in the US, is coming home to direct Harrow, Hoodlum Entertainment’s 10-part crime drama.
Hoodlum’s Los Angeles-based CEO Tracey Robertson will produce the series commissioned by the ABC and the international distributor, Disney’s ABC Studios International, with Hoodlum co-founder Nathan Mayfield and Leigh McGrath.
Co-created by writer Stephen M. Irwin (Australia Day, Wake in Fright, Secrets & Lies) and McGrath (Australia Day, Secrets & Lies, Strange Calls), the drama centers on a brilliant forensic pathologist who solves cases while harbouring a dark secret. The lead is yet to be announced. Shooting is due to start in Brisbane on August 7, supported by Screen Queensland.
Dennis moved to L.A. in 2014 to direct Hoodlum’s US remake of Secrets and Lies for the ABC network, followed by episodes of CSI: Cyber for CBS and AMC’s Turn.
Her latest credits include Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, I’m Dying Up Here, Preacher, Fear the Walking Dead, Second Chance, The Mindy Project and Suits.
Her Australian directing credits include Party Tricks, Offspring (series 1-5), Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Rake (series 2 and 3), The Time of Our Lives, Love My Way and The Secret Life of Us.
“Kate is immensely talented and in huge demand in the US. She will bring that wealth of international experience to her work on Harrow,” said Robertson.
Dennis said: “I am thrilled to be returning to Australia to work with the formidably talented team at Hoodlum once more. Secrets and Lies took us all on a wonderful journey to the US but it’s such a great feeling to be home and working together again on Harrow.”
Robertson, who has headed Hoodlum’s L.A. team for the three and a half years, will continue to oversee that operation.
Following Harrow her next big project is Tidelands, the first Australian original series commissioned by Netflix. Created by Irwin, the 10-part supernatural crime drama follows a former criminal as she returns home to a small fishing village and uncovers the town’s secrets while investigating a group of dangerous half-Sirens, half-humans called Tidelanders. It will shoot in Queensland next year.