by FilmInk Staff
Decade Films is partnering with Factor 30 Films to develop the offbeat true crime drama series Pink Diamond Heist based on the ABC podcast series by Sinéad Mangan.
Set in Western Australia in the late 1980s, it tells the story of one of the world’s biggest and most brazen jewel heists which involved the theft of up to $200 million of diamonds from Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine in the state’s remote North-West.
Producers Ray Quint (Bastard Boys) and Andrew Handelsmann (Circle of Lies) of Decade Films said: “We are thrilled to be working with Factor 30 and Sinéad to bring this captivating, stranger than-fiction true story to the screen. With events that span from the rugged East Kimberley to the glitzy veneer of ’80s Perth to the backrooms of Swiss diamond traders, Pink Diamond Heist is a darkly humorous crime drama that is distinctively Australian in flavour and global in appeal.”
Producer Melissa Kelly (Population: 11, Hounds of Love) of Factor 30 Films said: “As soon as I listened to the podcast, I knew that this story of greed, corruption and redemption would make for utterly compelling television. Our team have a strong vision for this series, and we look forward to bringing it to life for worldwide audiences.”
Decade Films is also developing the feature film Most Admired Woman, a biopic about the enigmatic Australian bush nurse and polio crusader Elizabeth Kenny written by Becca Johnstone (Addition), and the series On The Other Side, an adaptation of pioneering Vietnam war correspondent Kate Webb’s autobiography chronicling her time in captivity with the Viet Cong.
Factor 30 Films is a recent recipient of Screen Australia’s Enterprise Business funding and has a number of projects on its slate including the comedy-noir feature film The Renovator’s Dream by writer-director Richard Vilensky, the series Broken Lives (co-production with Northern Pictures) based on Estelle Blackburn’s award-winning book and the blue-sky crime series Prime Cut based on the Detective Cato Kwong series of books by Alan Carter.
Expanse: Pink Diamond Heist is a podcast developed and commissioned by the ABC. ABC Commercial holds world distribution rights for the podcast.
