Reel One hooks Channel 4 alum

Canada-based Reel One Entertainment has appointed a former Channel 4 exec to oversee its international drama expansion.

Dominic Schreiber

Dominic Schreiber’s arrival as global drama executive follows Reel One’s appointment of former Lifetime and Pukeko Pictures exec Adam Fratto, who was made VP of series earlier this year.

Schreiber will work with Fratto and Louisa Cadywould, senior VP and head of distribution, to develop a slate of series for the international market, in addition to forging relationships with writers, producers and broadcasters across Europe.

Schreiber was most recently executive producer of scripted for GroupM Entertainment, where he worked on shows such as Sky1 drama The Last Dragonslayer, a GroupM Entertainment and Blueprint Pictures copro.

Prior to that, he was C4’s international development manager, responsible for leading the UK broadcaster’s drama coproduction strategy. He helped structure its first international copro with London-based Kudos for sci-fi series Humans.

His tenure at C4 also saw him oversee a drama slate including adaptations of the Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities, Rainmark Films’ period crime thriller The Frankenstein Chronicles and Foxtel’s The Kettering Incident.

Reel One’s push into the scripted arena is further boosted by its acquisition of the screen rights to the Philip K Dick novella Second Variety, with veteran showrunner David Titcher (The Librarian) attached to adapt.

Second Variety is a cautionary tale about war and technology in which a US military-developed weapon with artificial intelligence threatens to wipe out humanity.

Reel One is producing in association with Charles W Fries (Martian Chronicles) for Fries Film Company, with Antony I Ginnane exec producing. Titcher will write and also exec produce the one-hour series.

Second Variety is the first series to be announced since Fratto joined to spearhead Reel One’s scripted expansion.

“As we grow our series business, we are looking for shows that are of the highest creative calibre, distinctive enough to cut through the global media clutter, suited for innovative business approaches and a fit for our international distribution pipeline,” Fratto said.

“With global anxiety about both weapons technology and artificial intelligence at an all-time high, this series is incredibly timely.”

Second Variety also marks the latest Philip K Dick work to be optioned for TV, following C4’s ambitious sci-fi anthology series Electric Dreams, which has since sold into Russia and Canada.