HBO rolls with Ball's 'True Blood'
'Six Feet Under' creator to act as showrunner
By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

Alan Ball is back in HBO's court, as the paycabler has officially picked up the vampire series "True Blood."
Ball, who created the hit "Six Feet Under" for HBO, will exec produce and showrun "True Blood," which is based on the novel series "Southern Vampire" from author Charlaine Harris

Net is still ironing out an episodic order and airdate, but "True Blood" is expected to go into production this fall. Ball, who wrote and directed the pilot, already has penned several more episodes.

"'True Blood' proves that Alan continues as a master of his craft," said HBO entertainment prexy Carolyn Strauss.

Ball first started working on the project in October 2005, when he signed a two-year overall pact with HBO. The project was eventually rolled to this year, and was shot earlier this summer with stars Anna Paquin, Ryan Kwanten, Sam Trammell, Stephen Moyer and Brook Kerr.

Set in small-town Louisiana, series follows the world of vampires, who are able to co-exist with humans by drinking a Japanese-manufactured synthetic blood. While spooky, the show also contains a dose of humor alongside the horror.

"Charlaine has created such a rich environment that's very funny and at the same time very scary," Ball told Daily Variety after first selling the project in 2005. "I bought the book on impulse and I just couldn't put it down."

Paquin plays Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress who winds up falling for the vampire Bill Compton (played by Moyer) and who has powers of her own. Carrie Preston and Michael Raymond-James round out the cast.

Ball recently directed the film "Nothing is Private." Ball's Your Face Goes Here Entertainment shingle will produce "True Blood" with HBO.

Moyer, HBO make "Blood" pact

Mon Apr 9, 2007 12:14AM EDT

By Nellie Andreeva

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - English actor Stephen Moyer will join Anna Paquin in "True Blood," an HBO drama pilot based on the "Southern Vampire" book series.

"Six Feet Under" creator Alan Ball wrote the project, and will direct and executive produce.

"True Blood" takes place in a world where vampires can buy Japanese-made synthetic blood. Their integration into a small Louisiana town causes quite a stir, and a love story ensues between Bull Comton (Moyer), a vampire, and Sookie Stackhouse (Paquin), an innocent waitress who can read people's minds.

Brook Kerr ("Passions") will play a beautiful, smart, articulate young woman who takes a job in the bar with Sookie.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Anna Paquin finds "True" calling for HBO

Mon Feb 26, 2007 5:16am ET162
By Nellie Andreeva

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Oscar winner Anna Paquin is making her first foray into series television as the lead in "True Blood," an HBO drama pilot from the creator of "Six Feet Under."

Ryan Kwanten and Sam Trammell have also been cast in the project, which Alan Ball wrote and is set to direct and executive produce.

Based on the "Southern Vampire" book series by Charlaine Harris, "True Blood" takes place in a world in which vampires can buy Japanese-made synthetic blood. Their integration into a small Louisiana town causes quite a stir, and a love story ensues between a vampire and Sookie Stackhouse (Paquin), an innocent waitress who can read people's minds.

Kwanten will play the waitress' brother. Trammell will play the owner of the restaurant where she works.

Paquin's upcoming credits include the films "Margaret" and "Blue State" as well as HBO's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee." She also has appeared in the "X-Men" film trilogy, "The Squid and the Whale," "Almost Famous" and "The Piano," the latter of which earned her a supporting actress Oscar in 1994.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Press Release (HBO's True Blood):

HBO, 'Six Feet' creator reunite for new series

Thu Oct 27, 2005 11:59 PM ET

By Andrew Wallenstein

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - HBO has dug up a new deal with "Six Feet Under" creator Alan Ball, but this time he's switching from the dead to the undead.

The first project covered under the two-year development deal Ball signed with the premium cable channel will be based on the "Southern Vampire" book series.

Written by Charlaine Harris, the series chronicles the intermingling world of humans and monsters in contemporary rural Louisiana, particularly vampires, thanks to a synthetic blood formula that allows them to roam far from their coffins.

"The books are funny, scary, sexy, romantic, bizarre and really fun," Ball said. "I couldn't put them down. I will try to remain as true to the spirit of her book as possible."

HBO has ordered an hour-long pilot to be written and directed by Ball. There is no set timetable for shooting the "Southern" pilot, but Ball believed it would happen sometime next year.

Ball, who also won an Oscar for writing "American Beauty," last created "Six Feet Under," which revolved around a family mortuary business. The Emmy-winning series ended in August.

"I was ready to do something a little lighter in tone than 'Six Feet,"' Ball said. "Five years of staring into the abyss was enough."

Bringing Ball back into the fold represents a coup for HBO, which has proved adept at getting the creators of its hit series to come back for another try; "Deadwood" executive producer David Milch recently signed a new deal, and "Sex and the City" executive producer Michael Patrick King already has completed a second series for HBO, "The Comeback."

"I had always assumed that Alan was done with TV," said Carolyn Strauss, HBO's president of entertainment. "I thought he was going to do movies, so we didn't even try. Then he read this book and said, 'I want to do this.' It was really a beautiful surprise."

Since burying "Six Feet Under," Ball has also written several screenplays on spec and developed a theatrical production in New York, "All That I Will Ever Be."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Website Design by Dawn Fratini