Disney+ Reveals First Look Images of Exclusive UK Disney+ Original Series
Disney+ today announced that it’s first UK Original series, rom-com action thriller “Wedding Season”, will premiere exclusively on the streaming service on Disney+ Day on Thursday 8 September. The announcement was accompanied by the debut of first-look images of the brand-new series, which premieres on Disney+ globally, Star+ in Latin America and Hulu in the U.S.
The genre-busting series tells the story of Katie and Stefan who fall for each other at a wedding and begin an affair, despite Katie already having a fiancé. Two months later at Katie’s wedding, her new husband and his entire family are murdered. The police think Stefan did it. Stefan thinks Katie did it. And no one knows for sure what the truth is…
The series is an action-packed romp across the UK and the US as Katie and Stefan go on the run, all while trying to prove their innocence.
“Wedding Season” stars Rosa Salazar and Gavin Drea, with Jade Harrison, Jamie Michie, Callie Cooke, Bhav Joshi, Ioanna Kimbrook, and Omar Baroud.
The series is penned by up-and-coming screenwriting talent Oliver Lyttelton (“Cheaters”) and directed by George Kane (“Crashing”). Produced by Dancing Ledge Productions (“The Responder”, “The Salisbury Poisonings”, “New Pope”) Executive Producers Chris Carey, Laurence Bowen, and Toby Bruce; and, Jax Media (“Russian Doll”, “Emily in Paris”) Executive Producers Brooke Posch, Lilly Burns, and Tony Hernandez, with Johanna Devereaux from Disney+.
The series will premiere alongside new content announced for Disney+ Day from marquee brands Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and Star.
Disney+ will be creating 60 local productions by 2024 as it continues to work with outstanding creators and premium producers as part of the company’s commitment to source, develop and produce original productions in Europe.
Robust parental controls ensure that Disney+ remains a suitable viewing experience for everyone in the family. Subscribers can set access limits on mature content and create PIN-protected profiles alongside the already existing Kids Profiles to give parents and guardians peace of mind.
ABOUT DISNEY+ DAY
Disney+ Day is an annual celebration of the Disney+ global community that debuted in 2021 and features content premieres from the streaming service’s marquee brands, special experiences and offers for subscribers and fans, and more. This year, Disney+ Day returns on Thursday, September 8, leading into D23 Expo: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event presented by Visa in Anaheim, CA.
ABOUT DISNEY+
Disney+ is the dedicated streaming home for movies and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic, along with The Simpsons and much more. In select international markets, it also includes the new general entertainment content brand, Star. The flagship direct-to-consumer streaming service from The Walt Disney Company, Disney+ is part of the Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution segment. The service offers commercial-free streaming alongside an ever-growing collection of exclusive originals, including feature-length films, documentaries, live-action and animated series, and short-form content. With unprecedented access to Disney’s long history of incredible film and television entertainment, Disney+ is also the exclusive streaming home for the newest releases from The Walt Disney Studios. And through Star, it offers the latest from 20th Century Studios, Disney Television Studios, FX, Searchlight Pictures, and more. For more, visit disneyplus.com, or find the Disney+ app on most mobile and connected TV devices.
ABOUT DANCING LEDGE PRODUCTIONS
Founded in 2016 to produce popular, bold, authored, high-end drama and nurture future generations of creative talent, Dancing Ledge Productions is run by multi BAFTA Award-winning CEO Laurence Bowen and Emmy Award-winning Managing Director Chris Carey.
This month production wrapped on the company’s major new 5x60min drama series The Responder. Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian Hart, Adelayo Adedayo, MyAnna Buring, Kerrie Hayes, Warren Brown, David Bradley and Rita Tushingham, alongside newcomers Josh Finan and Emily Fairn. Written by Tony Schumacher, with lead director Tim Mielants and produced by Rebecca Ferguson. The show is set to launch on BBC One next year.
The company’s first high-end drama, The Salisbury Poisonings, became a critically acclaimed international ratings hit. Written by Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn, the factual drama starred four-time BAFTA nominated actor Anne-Marie Duff, Annabel Scholey and Rafe Spall. Executive Produced by Laurence Bowen and Chris Carey, Saul Dibb’s direction, delivered a nuanced, moving drama based on first-hand accounts and interviews with people caught up in the public health crisis and criminal investigation following the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
The three-part drama received record-breaking ratings when it launched on BBC One in the UK June 2020. With episode one receiving a seven-day consolidated figure of 10 million viewers (43.7% share) and the all screen 28-day data showing over 11.7 million viewers, it became the biggest new drama across all channels and one of the most talked about series of the year. Rated as the number 1 UK drama of 2020 it received a nomination for Best Drama Series 1-4 episodes at this year’s UK’s Broadcasting Press Guild Awards. With distribution handled by Fremantle, (which owns a minority share of the company), the show has been sold in 101 territories with AMC securing the US rights in order to launch their new SVOD service AMC+ and later on AMC linear.
Shortlisted for the Broadcast Awards Emerging Indie of the Year in 2021, Dancing Ledge’s output is wide reaching, embracing drama and comedy, co-producing the UK episodes of the HBO/Sky/Wildside international hit The New Pope starring Jude Law and John Malkovich, and two series of Rutger Hauer starring comedy Porters for UKTV/Dave. Passion project Delhi Crime (Netflix) won this year’s International Emmy Award for Best Drama, making history by being the first ever win for India. The web-series was developed by Dancing Ledge, with Golden Karavan and Ivanhoe Productions and was written and directed by Richie Mehta. The company is currently working with Mehta on his next series.
Nurturing creative talent is a major priority and commitment for the company and by launching the UK‘s first TV Writer in Residence bursary scheme in 2016,Dancing Ledge has supported the career progression of many new writers. The current writer in residence is Dillon Mapletoft, taking over from Georgia Christou (2019), Tristan Bernays (2018), Lauren Sequeira (2017), and Caroline Bartleet (2016).
Oli Lyttleton was introduced to Dancing Ledge through this writers’ scheme.
Running the High End TV Mentoring Programme with ITV, the BBC and Screen Skills sees Dancing Ledge match A-list writers with new writers. The mentors for this year’s scheme are Britain’s most accomplished screenwriters; Abby Ajayi (How To Get Away With Murder, Four Weddings and a Funeral), Jesse Armstrong (Succession, Peep Show), Chris Chibnall (Dr Who, Broadchurch), Charlie Covell (The End of the F***ing World), Lisa McGee (Derry Girls, The Deceived), Paula Milne (The Politician’s Wife, Small Island) and Sarah Phelps (Agatha Christie adaptation quintet, Dublin Murders). The mentees chosen so far are: Abraham Adeyemi, Nessa Wrafter, Tina Pasotra and Victoria Ibitoye with the remainder to be chosen and announced throughout the year.
The company is currently developing new projects with a diverse range of writers for HBO, BBC, Netflix, UKTV, Channel 4, AMC and Sonar Entertainment.
www.dancingledgeproductions.co.uk
ABOUT JAX MEDIA
Founded in 2011, JAX Media is a television and film production juggernaut with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Atlanta. JAX Media has created a production model that allows talent to preserve their creative vision, and the results have been answered with awards and critical acclaim. They provide comprehensive production from development through the post with a highly experienced in-house team who expertly implements the unique JAX model that has proven itself as a success for studios, networks, and creatives alike.
JAX Media is behind numerous projects, including the smash hit “Emily in Paris,” the Emmy-winning “Russian Doll,” both for Netflix, as well as the Emmy-nominated “Black Lady Sketch Show” for HBO, cult hits “Search Party” for HBO Max, “Broad City” for Comedy Central, and the Searchlight film Fire Island, starring Joel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang for Hulu. JAX Media is currently producing the upcoming romantic action-comedy “Wedding Season” for Disney+, “Hello, Jack! The Kindest Show” for Apple, starring Jack McBrayer, and the new Darren Star series “Uncoupled” for Netflix, starring Neil Patrick Harris. JAX Media also produces “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” for TBS. JAX Media has been a part of numerous award-winning stand-up specials from some of the biggest names in comedy, including Chris Rock, Amy Schumer, John Mulaney, Ray Romano, Mike Birbiglia, and more. JAX Media currently has over 20 projects in production and has been nominated for 88 Emmy awards, with ten wins.
