DirecTV to produce MMA themed drama
Mixed martial arts has generated a number of MMA-themed movies, from the critically acclaimed Warrior to that one with Ken…
Mixed martial arts has generated a number of MMA-themed movies, from the critically acclaimed Warrior to that one with Ken Shamrock in speedos shooting a machine gun. However, the first MMA-themed television series is in now development.
DirecTV is close to picking up its third original series. The Satcaster is finalizing the deals for a 10-episode straight-to-series order titled Navy St., an hourlong drama from Bryan Balasco (Detroit 1-8-7) and Endemol Studios, the Los Angeles-based scripted TV producing operation of Endemol USA.
Written on spec by Balasco, Navy St. is described as a gritty family drama set against the backdrop of a mixed martial arts gym based in Venice, California. It deals with survival, ambition, self-destruction and love in all of its messy iterations. Balasco is attached to serve as showrunner on the series, which I heard has begun preliminary casting, with production start eyed for early next year.
Navy St. is said to be in the vein of acclaimed family/football drama Friday Night Lights, which ended its run on DirecTV. This would mark the third original series to launch on DirecTV, following Rogue, which was recently renewed for a second season, and the upcoming Full Circle.
At Endemol Studios, Navy St. would join two other gritty drama series, AMC’s Hell On Wheels, which returned for a third season on Saturday, and Low Winter Sun, which premiered last night. Balasco’s first stab at creating a series, drama Westside which also was set in Venice, CA, attracted McG as director and executive producer last season when it went to pilot at ABC.
