Canal+ is teaming with African streamer Showmax for its latest drama from Africa, an action drama about the dangerous South African motor sport spinning. Production on Spinners began in Cape Town on the eight-part series this week, with Gaia director Jaco Bouwer attached.
Shot in English, Kaaps and Afrikaans, it is produced by Joachim Landau and Raphaël Rocher for French indie Empreinte Digitale and co-produced by Locarno, Amiens and FESPACO winner Ramadan Suleman and his full service film and TV production outfit Natives at Large. Canal+-owned Studiocanal has international distribution rights.
Landau co-created the show with Benjamin Hoffman. Director is Bouwer, whose horror Gaia won the ZEISS Cinematography Award last year at SXSW, and Matthew Jankes, Sean Steinberg, Gillian Breslin, Daniel Zimbler, Byron Abrahams and Zoë Laband comprising the writing team.
The motor sport on which the series is based sees cars driven at high speed with drivers performing stunts in and out of the vehicle.
Spinners‘ synopsis reads: “Ethan is a 17-year-old driver working for a local gang, run with an iron fist by Damien. Trying to support his younger brother but increasingly disgusted with this life and constantly on the edge, Ethan discovers a possible way out via spinning, an intense local sport where he could put his driving skills to use. But the looming gang war jeopardizes that hope.”
Arendsvlei’s Cantona James and Chelsea Thomas have been cast in the lead roles, along with South African Film and Television Award (SAFTA) winner Brendon Daniels (Zulu, Skemerdans) and Dillon Windvogel (Blood & Water) also attached. DJ Ready D, a South African hip hop star who co-founded Prophets of the City) is the music supervisor and is composing tracks for the series.
France’s Canal+ has produced 13 original TV dramas out of Africa since 2018, including Invisibles and Agent, and now an ambition to produce 10 per year from the territory.
