Jon Cassar To Executive Produce Brazil-Set Comedy Series ‘Rio Heat'; Victor Webster To Star

Action comedy series Rio Heat, produced under a co-production treaty between Brazil and Canada, is described as a cross between Hawaii 5-0, Miami Vice, Magnum PI and Moonlighting. Emmy-winning 24 producer/director Jon Cassar will executive produce and direct multiple episodes of the 13-episode series, which will be filmed entirely in Brazil. Rio Heat was co-created by Canadian TV producer Ken Gord and Dean Borenstein. Gord is the writer and executive produces with Borenstein. Antonio de Andrade, Raul Geyer Aguinara, and Eduardo Villela executive produce for Brazilian co-producer Filmes de Serro.

Innovative Artists-repped Webster has worked on such series as Continuum, Mutant X and Charmed and the feature film franchise The Scorpion King. Stephen Campanelli will direct the two-hour pilot, which begins production March 7 in Rio de Janeiro. Campanelli just wrapped feature Momentum.

The two-hour pilot will be launched theatrically by 20th Century Fox Brazil in multiple Latin American countries, starting with Brazil and Mexico. Fox Pay-TV Latin America has licensed the pay TV window in Latin America for the first 13 episodes. Global Genesis Group is the worldwide distributor outside of Latin America.

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