24 July, 2019 - 08:03
Africas biggest co-production to date, with a combined budget of 27 million US dollars, is currently shooting in and around Johannesburg with Hollywood A-list talent.
The Professionals, a television action series depicting the high risk lives of Private Military Contractors (PMCs) is an Official Ireland - Republic of South Africa Co-Production with primary locations in South Africa and Ireland. Financing for the series has been arranged by the IDC, Cofiloisirs with the support of IFCIC, Aperture Media, Tele Munchen Group, and Viaplay.
South African funding has played a major role with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) making the single largest investment and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) preapproving the rebate application.
Brendan Fraser (The Mummy), Tom Welling (Smallville), Elena Anaya (Wonderwoman) and Said Taghmaoui (American Hustle) are set to star in this new action adventure series supported by Ken Duken (Inglorious Basterds), Lisa Loven Kongsli (Force Majeure) , August Wittgenstein (Das Boot) as well as local artists Stevel Marc (Of Good Report), Tanya van Graan (Zulu), Kai Luke Brummer (Origins), and Nic Rasenti (Outlander), who will be season regulars. A host of other South African actors will also enjoy the privilege of participating alongside these stars and international exposure when the series sells worldwide. Of note is newcomer Jazzara Jaslyn who made a strong impression with the sales agent Telemunchen.
The series also boasts a strong contingent of black South Africans both behind and in front of the camera with an equally strong female and black female contingent, making this one of the most diverse contemporary television shows to emerge from post apartheid South Africa. Of note is director Thabang Moleya (Happiness is a Four Letter Word, Jacobs Cross) who will be making his mark in international television directing 2 key episodes of The Professionals. Spier Films (uCarmen eKhayelitsha, The Salvation, Of Good Report, An Act of Defiance, The Harvesters), led by its directors Micheal Auret and Dr. Lwazi Manzi, is the South African co-producing company in the first high budget television series to be shot under the auspices of the South Africa/ Ireland co-production treaty.
Says Executive Producer Michael Mike Auret: We are extremely proud to demonstrate the strength of co-production and the promises that it brings to the South African film industry and our economy at large. I would like to thank my colleagues Jeff Most of Most Media in the US and Latvia and Tristan Orpen Lynch of Subotica in Ireland for believing in this model and in the ability of the South African jurisdiction to deliver on its mandates. Most of all, we thank the Industrial Development Corporation and Department of Trade and Industry for their unwavering commitment to the project as a tool for job creation, attracting Foreign Direct Investment and fostering good international relations through cultural diplomacy.
Dr. Lwazi Manzi, producer of The Professionals adds It is particularly gratifying to walk on set and see a diverse representation both in front of and behind the camera. To see our stars holding their own with international stars, and to be able to do what any other big studio does is an exciting leapfrogging exercise that I can assure my colleagues can be undertaken by anyone who has the ambition and grit to survive it. I truly hope that what we are doing here will embolden others to do the same.
Principal photography started in Dublin on 26 May 2019 and the South African leg began 3 June 2019
TM International to handle worldwide sales
Anchor broadcaster Viaplay to distribute the series in Scandinavia
RTL II pre-bought free-tv rights for German speaking Europe
Los Angeles (USA)/Munich (Germany), May, 31, 2019 - Brendan Fraser (Trust, The Mummy, GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, School Ties), Tom Welling (Smallville, Cheaper by the dozen,
Parkland), Elena Anaya (Wonder Womans Dr. Poison, The Skin I live In, MotherFatherSon), Said Taghmaoui (John Wick 3, Wonder Woman, American Hustle), Ken Duken (Inglourious Basterds, Counterpart), Lisa Loven Kongsli (Force Majeure, Wonder Woman, Ashes in the Snow) and August Wittgenstein (Das Boot, Hidden) have been cast in the new English-language action series THE PROFESSIONALS, which started principal photography on the 10-episode first season this week for anchor broadcaster Viaplay in Scandinavia. Tele Munchen Group is handling worldwide sales via its subsidiary TM International. Both companies are part of the new company led by Fred Kogel, which will emerge from Tele Munchen Group (TMG), Universum Film, i&u TV and Wiedemann & Berg Film. TM International will present the one-hour series at this years Mipcom. Germanys nationwide TV channel RTL II has pre-bought the free-TV rights.
Set against a backdrop of international espionage and corporate sabotage in the 21st centurys privately- funded space race, THE PROFESSIONALS stars Tom Welling as a hardened former counterintelligence officer, Captain Vincent Corbo. After their advanced medical satellite explodes on deployment, billionaire futurist Peter Swann,Brendan Fraser, and his fiancee, medical visionary Dr. Graciela Grace Davila, Elena Anaya, turn to Corbo. Corbo assembles a team of experienced professionals to investigate the incident. They learn that any combination of Swanns business rivals, corrupt governments officials, and a shadowy crime syndicate could be behind the attack and represent a continued threat. Ken Duken plays a Europol agent seeking to thwart the security teams efforts.
The first three episodes will be directed by Bharat Nalluri (MI-5 aka Spooks: The Greater Good; The Man Who Invented Christmas). The series was created by Jeff Most(The Crow, The Specialist) and is loosely based on Roadside Attractions feature film release Soldiers o
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
29/05/2026
Experimental HIV vaccine achieves a long-sought goal In a first for the field, all non-human primates given a new series of vaccines generated antibodies capabl...
28/05/2026
Thomsons Climate Crisis Toolkit is already being put to work, helping journalist...
28/05/2026
FOX Sports' MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy ...
28/05/2026
One of the most memorable postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...
28/05/2026
NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most-decorated and most-watched pro...
28/05/2026
The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...
28/05/2026
Hosted by ESPN Senior Writer Ryan McGee, the ceremony honored winners from athletic departments, conference offices, professional networks, production companies...
28/05/2026
Major rights-holders rolled out their 2026 college football slates today, offering a first look at marquee windows, kickoff partners, and conference distributio...
24 July, 2019 - 08:03 
