ProSiebenSat.1 Media Group secured the broadcast rights to crime series “Jo” (working title/formerly “Le Grand”) – featuring French film superstar Jean Reno – for their German speaking Free TV channels. Reno portrays Jo St-Clair, a veteran detective in Paris’ elite Criminal Brigade tackling the city’s most challenging murder cases. “Jo” takes the audience behind the scenes of Paris’ most iconic locations – the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Catacombs, Place Vendome – as we follow St-Clair in his relentless pursuit of justice. “Jo” is produced by Atlantique Productions.
Klaus Zimmermann, CEO of Atlantique Productions and series producer: “Jo is a solid procedural, written by a top US showrunner (René Balcer), starring one of Europe’s biggest feature actors (Jean Réno), and shooting in the most fascinating city in the world (Paris). This compelling combination of talents will create one of this season’s most interesting and unique shows, providing yet another example of a perfectly-fitted series with global reach.”
“Our partners at Atlantique created an outstanding project. They signed an amazing cast and terrific directors to work alongside household names Jean Reno and René Balcer. René and the directors are true crime geniuses. ProSiebenSat.1 is the perfect partner for this amazing crime procedural”, says Jens Richter, Managing Director of Red Arrow International.
“Jo” was created by Emmy Award-winning producer René Balcer, writer and producer of over 400 episodes of the “Law & Order” franchise and creator of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”. He serves as the series’ showrunner and Executive Producer, writing and producing the show in association with co-creators Franck Ollivier and Malina Detcheva.. Fighting crime alongside Reno are Tom Austen (“The Borgias”) as Jo’s rookie partner and American TV star Jill Hennessy (“Crossing Jordan”) as his adviser and friend. Hollywood newcomer Heida Reed (“One Day”) plays Jo’s estranged daughter Adèle.
Charlotte Sieling (“The Bridge”), Stefan Schwartz (“Dexter”) and Kristoffer Nyholm (“Forbrydelsen – The Killing”) and Sheree Folksonn (“Hit and Miss”) directed the eight one-hour episodes. “Jo” is the first drama series shot entirely on location in Paris and filmed in English.