William Shakespeare heads to Wales
TNT’s series about a young William Shakespeare has moved production to Wales for its ten-episode run.
Will had originally been set up at Ealing Studios, but the space wasn’t big enough to house the theatre used in the show.
Pre-production is now underway at Dragon Studios, which also housed FX and Fox 21’s gory historical drama The Bastard Executioner for three months last summer.
It was originally hoped that FX and Fox 21 would take out a long-term lease on the Dragon Studios facility near Cardiff, enabling the space to remain open for additional Wales-based film and high-end TV drama productions.
The lengthy series order of Will follows a feature-length pilot which was filmed using a stage at Warner Bros. Leavesden earlier this year.
Set against a contemporary soundtrack, the show stars British actor Laurie Davidson as the young bard in a raucous, bawdy, rock ‘n’ roll-style 16th century London. It comes from writer Craig Pearce, best known for his regular collaborations with Baz Luhrmann including The Great Gatsby, Moulin Rouge!, Romeo + Juliet and Strictly Ballroom. Pearce is also among the team of executive producers.
Subscribers to Production intelligence can log in for shoot dates along with the details of key hires including the casting director, production designer, line producer and production manager.
Non-subscribers can click here for an online demo of the site, which currently has listings for around 125 film and TV projects in pre-production.
Photo of Laurie Davidson as Will via TNT.
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