Acorn, RTE Team Up on Irish-Produced Comedy-Drama ‘The South Westerlies’ (EXCLUSIVE)

By Stewart Clarke

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – AMC’s Acorn Media Enterprises and Irish pubcaster RTE have teamed up on “The South Westerlies,” an Irish-produced original comedy-drama featuring an ensemble cast led by Orla Brady (“Mistresses”). ZDF Enterprises and Norway’s TV2 are also on board the series, which has backing from Screen Ireland.

Dublin-based Deadpan Pictures is producing. It will bow on in 2020. In the U.S. it will premiere on the Acorn TV streaming service, which recently surpassed the 1-million subscriber mark in North America.

Eileen Walsh (“Catastrophe”), Ger Ryan (“Rialto”), Sam Barrett, Lily Nichol (“Handymen”), Steve Wall (“Vikings”) and Patrick Bergin (“Patriot Games”) will also star in “The South Westerlies.”

Brady will play Kate, an environmental consultant for a Norwegian energy firm. Before landing a lucrative promotion, she has to go undercover among protesters and quash objections to a wind farm project near their small coastal town.

Filming is underway. The shoot will take place in multiple locations in Ireland and in Oslo, Norway. The six-parter was created by Catherine Maher, who wrote it alongside Hugh Travers, Hilary Reynolds and Michelle Duffy.

“It’s been great working together with Deadpan Pictures, Acorn, Screen Ireland and to bring this new homegrown six-part drama from script to screen for our viewers on RTE One,” said Shane Murphy, RTE’s group head of drama and comedy.

“With an impressive ensemble cast led by Orla Brady, a picturesque setting and first-rate writing, ‘The South Westerlies’ will definitely interest ’s subscribers and audiences worldwide,” added Catherine Mackin, managing director of Acorn Media Enterprises.

Acorn Media Enterprises and its distributor, Acorn Media International, have the rights in North America, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. and secondary rights in Ireland. ZDF Enterprises will distribute the series in the rest of the world.