LOS ANGELES — Veteran adult producer and director Stoney Curtis and his gonzo film production company Lethal Hardcore Productions have set up their first mainstream prime time-scripted TV series for development.
Curtis will be working with veteran studio executive and executive producer Kirk Schenck and his SixEleven Media on the project tentatively titled “Hardcore.”
The series is an anthology centered on the lives of four adult film producer, a publicist said. They compete, settle old grudges and live complicated lives below the surface of Hollywood’s glamorous facade.
“’Hardcore’ is ‘Breaking Bad’ in a ‘Boogie Nights’ universe with intersecting stories of old friends who all have dark secrets, unsettled scores, and unpaid debts that could endanger the businesses they’ve built and the people they love the most,” the publicist said.
The main character is based on Curtis’ life, which included for many years living a dual life and hiding his involvement in the industry from family and friends, the publicist said.
Schenck, a veteran TV executive, said: “Stoney is one of the last of the old breed of adult producers. He knows where the bodies are buried. He’s stayed clean in a dangerous business filled with money laundering, censorship and government crackdowns, crackpot talent agents, Mafia strong-arming, and even death threats from a Columbian cartel kingpin whose daughter ended up in one of his films.”
“Over Curtis’ career the industry has undergone massive changes, which have forced some desperate conduct in the dark shadows of LA’s glitter and sunshine,” Schenck said. “There are few better ways to tell the noir story of L.A. than through the prism of the adult film industry, and there’s no better source of the stories of that world than from Stoney.”
Curtis, who has produced and directed over 800 adult films spanning a 23-year career, said: “I’ve always wanted to tell the real story of my industry but from the inside out, from the viewpoint of the trenches, not the idealized sexy smoky versions typically found in Hollywood films. Hardcore will tell stories that actually happened, and are happening right now.”
Schenck and Curtis said that the pilot script and 10-episode story breakdown for “Hardcore” will likely be completed for pitching to networks and international financiers in May.
The pair said that they’ve been approached with financing for a parallel web series and an independent theatrical motion picture following the “Hardcore” characters and storylines for consideration for entry into the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
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