SKY LAUNCHES THE EXPECTED FINANCIAL THRILLER “DEVILS” IN ITALY

SKY will finally release the long-awaited financial thriller "Devils" starring Patrick Dempsey ("Grey's Anatomy”), Alessandro Borghi ("Suburra") and Kasia Smutniak ("Loro") on April 17 in Italy. The series is a co-production between SKY Italia and Lux ​​Vide, in association with Orange Studio, with the participation of OCS and funded by Sky Studios.

The series was presented to global buyers during the last MIPCOM, where a screening of the first chapter was made and the main talents spoke about the international appeal of the series. “Devils” international sales are handled by NBCUniversal Global Distribution.

Based on Guido María Brera's novel, "Devils”, the ten-episode series filmed in english language takes place in the London office of a major American bank, where we get to know the ruthless chief operating officer, Massimo Ruggero (Borghi) of Italy, and his mentor in the world of financ,  Dominic Morgan (Dempsey), the bank's CEO. When Ruggero ends up involved in an intercontinental financial war that rocks all of Europe, he must decide either to ally with his boss or to confront him. The book was inspired partly by the financial crisis that swept global markets in 2008.

THE TESTIMONY OF TALENTS

"’Devils’ is a product generated in Italy but it has become a European, international and global series due to the collaboration of international talent in writing, directing, actoring and also in costumes and set design managing to mix Italy, Europe and the United States, but always with an Italian touch,” asserted Matilde Bernabei, President of LUX Vide when Señal News interviewed all the talents at the international premiere of "Devils" at MIPCOM. "The conspiracy thriller tells a very complicated story, one of the great financial battles between the United States and Europe, but we have tried to make it as accessible as possible to the public by giving it instruments so that they understand a little of what happened in 2012 and I think there is an Italian touch and a LUX Vide touch,” she added.

According to Luca Bernabei, LUX Vide CEO and producer of the series, with “Devils” finally the public can understand something of what happened in 2012 and previous years, when the big American funds attacked the public debts of the countries. “It was happened in Greece, in Argentina and in the series we tell that this type of finance can change people's lives in concrete ways. The crisis has brought about a new Europe, the one we see now, a Europe of nationalism, and I think that is why it may be interesting for international audiences. But this is just the ledge, inside are the fascinating stories,” described.

On the other hand, Nils Hartmann, director of Original Productions at SKY Italia indicated that ‘Devils’ has a global appeal because the financial crisis has hit all over the world. “It was a war between the USA and Europe but has struck also to Latin American countries”.

In the same line, Nick Hurran, one of the directors of “Devils” said: “We all lived through this financial crisis in 2018 but when I read the book it made me angry, I didn’t know what really happened. I think it is a very interesting story to tell in a television series format”.

“It was interesting to structure a series that is very contemporary, that it talks about current real things and to narrate it, we decided to use part of the true repertoire of the news because the story tells the period from 2008 to 2011, of a great crisis when a certain group of people from high level decided to attack Europe through finance,” explained Jan Michelini, director of the conspiracy thriller.

In opinion of Guido María Brera, author of "Il Diavoli” novel, the series is very interesting because describes how the finances become a political instrument. “When you buy a country's public debt, it interferes with that country's elections and decisions,” said.

For the main protagonists, Patrick Dempsey and Alessandro Borghi, “Devils” gave them the opportunity to play characters that they had never played before.

Watch the full interview with Patrick Dempsey and Alessandro Borghi in our YouTube channel.

By Romina Rodríguez