Acorn TV and TVNZ announced today their commissioning of the new New Zealand romantic comedy series Under the Vines.
Along with Acorn Media Enterprises, Acorn TV and TVNZ have commissioned Under the Vines from production company Libertine Pictures (Daffodils, Mystic) and EQ Media Group (At Home with Julia, Wednesday Night Fever), previously in association with Ian Collie (Rake, Jack Irish, The Heart Guy).
Created and co-written by Erin White, the six-part series stars Rebecca Gibney (Wanted, Packed to the Rafters, Winter) and Charles Edwards (The Crown, The Terror, Downton Abbey) as two unlikely city slickers who inherit a failing vineyard in rural New Zealand.
Daisy Munroe (Rebecca Gibney), a gregarious, single and ready-to-mingle socialite from Sydney, leads a charmed life that changes unexpectedly when her monthly allowance, graciously supplied by her estranged and recently deceased stepfather, dries up. There is only one bit of his fortune left: a vineyard in New Zealand. So Daisy decides she has no choice but to travel there for a little relaxing holiday — both to partake of its wines and to get a real estate agent to quickly sell the property.
What Daisy doesn’t know (yet) is that the vineyard has a co-owner: the grumpy UK-born lawyer, Louis Oakley (Charles Edwards), who has been on a massive bender after a spiraling series of unfortunate events. When Louis’s uncle unexpectedly dies and leaves him the owner of the vineyard, Louis feels the need to disappear. So he makes haste to New Zealand, intent on quickly selling the property in the hopes of getting his life back on track.
Despite Daisy and Louis despising each other, and the fact that neither of them has ever done a hard day’s work in their lives, they must somehow work together to make the vineyard successful so they can sell up, split up, and get up out of there.
Said Rebecca Gibney:
“I am beyond excited to be home and about to start shooting Under the Vines in the spectacular Otago region. I’m a sucker for romantic comedies and the scripts are wonderful – there is so much humour and heart. Erin and the team have done a fabulous job and given the state of the world at the moment I think the timing is perfect. We all could do with some cheering up! The character of Daisy is totally unlike anything I have done before and I can’t wait to work with the fabulous Charles, our extraordinary cast and a world class team of New Zealand creatives. A massive thank you to Acorn and TVNZ for their support.”
The ensemble cast includes Dean O’Gorman (One Lane Bridge), Sara Wiseman (A Place to Call Home), John Bach (Janet King), Matt Whelan (The Sounds), Simon Mead (Nothing Trivial), Sarah Peirse (Offspring), Cohen Holloway (Top of the Lake), Carrie Green (Mystic), Catherine Wilkin (Stateless), Robbie Magasiva (Wentworth), and newcomer Trae Te Wiki.
Under the Vines is written by Tim Balme (The Brokenwood Mysteries), Nick Ward (Nothing Trivial), J.C. Stewart-Tewhiu (Waru), Kathryn Burnett (The Sounds), Harry McNaughton (The Sounds), and creator Erin White (Dugong). It will be produced by Carmen J Leonard (Outrageous Fortune) and executive produced by Rebecca Gibney, Richard Fletcher for Libertine Pictures, and Brendan Dahill for EQ Media Group.
Production will begin in early February 2021 in picturesque Central Otago, New Zealand. Acorn TV has all rights worldwide, with the exception of TVNZ holding rights in New Zealand.
Acorn TV will feature its world premiere of Under the Vines on Acorn TV in the US, Canada, UK, Latin America, Australia, Spain, and Portugal, amongst other territories, in 2021, followed by TVNZ with its New Zealand premiere.
Stay tuned for updates.
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