Cineflix Productions options the Vancouver-set Wakeland detective novels

By Victoria Ahearn, Playback

Cineflix Productions has optioned the Wakeland private-eye series of novels by award-winning Vancouver-born author Sam Wiebe.

The Montreal-headquartered company says it has begun development on a new crime series based on three books in the noir thriller book series: Invisible Dead, Cut You Down and Hell and Gone.

The protagonist is Dave Wakeland, a 29-year-old former police officer-turned-P.I. who investigates corruption and murder in Vancouver. Cineflix Productions brokered the TV rights deal with Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists for Chris Casuccio.

“Sam is one of the most exciting writers in Canada, and the Vancouver-noir world he’s created is an incredible foundation for an original series. I believe Wakeland and the gritty world he inhabits is primed for a global audience,” said Jeff Vanderwal, executive producer, Cineflix Productions.

The Wakeland series adds to Cineflix Productions’ slate of scripted crime content, which also includes the recent addition of movies Stolen By Their Father starring Sarah Drew (Grey’s Anatomy) and Left for Dead: The Ashley Reeves Story starring Jennie Garth and Anwen O’Driscoll, along with Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey from 2018 and I Was Lorena Bobbitt from 2020.

Meanwhile, Cineflix has announced that Tanya Blake, a former series producer for the company, is returning to the fold as an executive producer. Blake returns to Cineflix following stints with Lone Eagle Entertainment, where she worked on three seasons of Big Food Bucket List for Food Network Canada and Hulu as series producer, and with Alibi Entertainment, where she worked on a season of The Baker Sisters as series producer.

In her new role, which she begins at the end of March, she will be tasked with developing and executive producing lifestyle content for the U.S. and Canadian markets in both English and French. She will also oversee showrunners and production crews for the shows she produces, and will manage relationships with broadcasters and streamers. She will report to Sherri Rufh, EVP, production and administration.