STARZ Orders Original Ballet Series from Lawrence Bender & Moira Walley-Beckett

Related: STARZ

Starz announced today that it will develop a new original drama series from "Breaking Bad" Co-Executive Producer Moira Walley-Beckett and Lawrence Bender. The currently untitled drama follows a young female ballet dancer, Claire, who has a distinctly troubled past as she joins a prestigious ballet company in New York. The dark and gritty series will unflinchingly explore the dysfunctional underbelly of the ballet world.

The new original series will be produced by Starz Entertainment with Executive Producers Lawrence Bender (Oscar nominated for Inglourious Basterds, Pulp Fiction and Good Will Hunting) and Kevin Brown ("Roswell"). Moira Walley-Beckett, currently a Co-Executive Producer on "Breaking Bad," was recently nominated for a 2013 Golden Globe Award(R), a PGA Award, a Primetime Emmy(R) for Outstanding Drama Series in 2012, nominated for a WGA Award in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013, resulting in a 2012 win for her work on "Breaking Bad," and a PEN award in 2010. Walley-Beckett is represented by United Talent Agency and Bender-Brown is with William Morris Endeavor Agency.

Bender, Brown and Wally-Beckett both have connections to the world of ballet, which brought them together with Starz on this project. Bender and Walley-Beckett are former ballet dancers, and Brown's family is made up entirely of former ballet dancers which was the basis for the Oscar-nominated film, The Turning Point.

Starz will retain all domestic and international multiplatform rights including television, home entertainment, and digital.

Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) is a leading integrated global media and entertainment company with operating units that provide premium subscription video programming on domestic U.S. pay television channels (Starz Networks), global content distribution (Starz Distribution) and animated television and movie production (Starz Animation), www.starz.com.

Starz Networks is a leading provider of premium subscription video programming through the flagship STARZ(R) and ENCORE(R) pay TV networks which showcase premium original programming and movies to U.S. multichannel video distributors, including cable operators, satellite television providers, and telecommunications companies. As of September 30, 2012, Starz and ENCORE serve a combined 55 million subscribers, including 21 million at STARZ, and 34 million at ENCORE, making them the largest pair of premium flagship channels in the U.S. STARZ(R) and ENCORE(R), along with Starz Networks' third flagship brand MOVIEPLEX(R), air over 1,000 movies monthly across 17 linear networks, complemented by On Demand and authenticated online offerings through Starz PLAY, ENCORE PLAY, and MOVIEPLEX PLAY. Starz Distribution develops, produces and acquires entertainment content, distributing it to consumers globally on DVD, digital formats and traditional television. Starz Distribution's home video, digital media and worldwide distribution business units distribute original programming content produced by Starz, as well as entertainment content for itself and third parties. Starz Animation produces animated TV and movie content for studios, networks, distributors and audiences worldwide.