Fifth Season takes global rights to Chris Brancato’s MGM+ original The Westies

Chris Brancato speaking at C21’s Content London today

Fifth Season has secured global distribution rights to The Westies, the new eight-episode crime drama series from creator and executive producer Chris Brancato (Godfather of Harlem, Hotel Cocaine).

Under his overall television deal with MGM+, Brancato created the series with Michael Panes, who also executive produces and showruns. The Westies will premiere on MGM+ in the US, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Colombia.

The series marks Brancato’s third series with MGM+, following Godfather of Harlem, starring Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker, and crime thriller Hotel Cocaine.

The Westies is a gritty crime drama centring on New York City’s infamously violent Irish gang of the same name. The series is set in the early 1980s when the construction of the Jacob Javitz Convention Center on the Westies’ home turf in Hell’s Kitchen promises a financial windfall.

Jennifer Ebell, exec VP, television distribution at Fifth Season, said: “With The Westies, Chris Brancato and Michael Panes have created exactly the kind of premium crime series we know audiences and buyers respond to. It’s sharp, character-driven storytelling set against the gritty pulse of 1980s New York, with all the ambition and edge you want from a world like this. We’re confident the series will cut through and connect with viewers globally.”