“Bridgerton” star Florence Hunt, Jim Sturgess and Australia’s Teresa Palmer (“The Clearing,” “The Fall Guy”) have joined the cast of “Mix Tape,” a music-themed drama series. The Australian-Irish co-production shot in Sydney in May and is now underway in Dublin.
The series is adapted by Irish writer Jo Spain (“Taken Down,” “Sanditon”) from the popular and critically-acclaimed novel of the same title by Jane Sanderson. It is directed by Australia’s Lucy Gaffy (“Totally, Completely Fine”).
“’Mix Tape’ will take viewers back in time to that intoxicating feeling of first love [and be] a classic all-encompassing romance set to a banging nostalgic soundtrack,” said producers.
The series is produced by Subotica and Aquarius Films, with Boat Rocker overseeing international distribution. In Australia, it will play on Binge, a streaming service operated by local market pay-TV leader Foxtel.
Palmer (“The Clearing,” “The Fall Guy”) will portray Alison and the U.K.’s Sturgess (“Cloud Atlas”) plays Daniel, two friends now living on opposite sides of the planet, who reconnect through a song from their shared past. They explore their curiosity whether this is the love and life that they were meant to have when they first met in the 1980s. Hunt and newcomer Rory Walton-Smith play the younger versions of Alison and Daniel.
Also joining the cast are Irish actors Mark O’Halloran (“Mary & George,” “The Virtues”), Helen Behan (“Malpractice,” “The Virtues”), Conor Sánchez (“Hope Street,” “Ellis”), Jonathan Harden (“Time,” “Blue Lights”), and Siobhan O’Kelly (“The Tourist,” “The Hardacres”), along with British actor Alexis Rodney (“The Gentleman,” “Guardians of the Galaxy”) and Finnish actress Sara Soulié (“Conflict,” “The Man Who Died”).
The series is produced by Aoife O’Sullivan and Tristan Orpen Lynch for Subotica and Angie Fielder and Polly Staniford for Aquarius Films. Alison Hurbert-Burns, Lana Greenhalgh and Clare Mirabello serve as executive producers alongside David Fortier, Ivan Schneeberg, Nick Nantell, and Erik Pack for Boat Rocker.
Major production investment comes from the Foxtel Group in association with Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and Screen Australia. It was also financed with support from the Finnish Impact Film Fund and Screen NSW’s Made in NSW Fund which is also supporting post, digital and visual effects.
“’Mix Tape’ is sure to delight audiences around the globe and hit all the right notes by bringing romance, nostalgia, and music together with artful storytelling for an unforgettable series,” said Pack, SVP global sales and co-production at Boat Rocker Studios.
Hurbert-Burns, commissioner and executive producer said: “’Mix Tape’ takes the Foxtel Group in a bold new direction of international storytelling and brings together a stellar line-up of cast from across the globe.”