Netflix orders Kiss with E4

Netflix and UK broadcaster E4 have linked up to coproduce a scripted series from the creator of teen drama Skins.

Kiss Me First, from writer Bryan Elsley (Dates, Skins) and produced by Balloon and Kindle Entertainment, will premiere on E4 in the UK and Netflix outside of the territory.

The 6×60’ series is an adaptation of Lottie Moggach’s best-selling young-adult novel of the same name.

It will tell the story of a 17-year-old girl who is addicted to a fictional online gaming site called Agora. The series will combine live action with computer-generated virtual world sequences.

Piers Wenger, head of drama at E4 parent Channel 4 (C4), said: “This is a thrilling and truly groundbreaking series that takes an emotional look at the lives of a group of young gamers and the truth that exists behind their online life.”

Elsley and Kindle’s Melanie Stokes will be executive producers on the project and Bradley Adams will be the producer. Production begins this year.

In related news, E4 has commissioned comedy-drama Foreign Bodies (8×45’) from UK prodco Eleven.

Written by Tom Basden, the show follows a motley gang of travellers embarking on a three month trip around Asia. Entertainment One is a coproduction partner on the show and will handle worldwide distribution.

Keshet’s Mesudarim is being adapted by Channel 4 as Loaded

Meanwhile, C4 has greenlit eight-part comedy drama Loaded, based on the Keshet Broadcasting original series Mesudarim created by Muli Segev and Assaf Harel,

The 8×45’ series, written and exec produced by Jon Brown (Fresh Meat, Peep Show, Misfits), follows four life-long friends who become multi-millionaires overnight. Remake rights for the drama have previously been picked up in China.

The show is a coproduction between Hillbilly Films and Keshet UK. Kate Norrish and Polly Leys are executive producers for Hillbilly Television, while Sara Johnson and Avi Nir are exec producing for Keshet along with Muli Segev and Assaf Harel. Roberto Troni and Lee Mason are the commissioning editors at C4. Filming will begin in 2016.

On the factual side, C4 is also preparing a 1×60′ special on US presidential hopeful Donald Trump. The Mad World of Donald Trump will premiere on Tuesday January 26 at 21.00, produced by ITN Productions.