Harsh Vardhan
The filming of Netflix’s historical series ‘House of Guinness’ has started in Cheshire and Manchester, England. The series, created by Steven Knight, will consist of eight episodes in total. Tom Shankland is helming the first five episodes, with Mounia Akl on board to direct the remaining ones. Louis Partridge, Anthony Boyle, and David Wilmot headline the cast.
Set against the backdrop of 19th-century Dublin and New York, the series narrates the saga of one of Europe’s most renowned and enduring dynasties — the Guinness family. The plot revolves around the aftermath of the demise of Benjamin Guinness, the man responsible for the extraordinary success of the Guinness brewery, and the far-reaching impact of his cunning will on the fate of his four adult children, Arthur, Edward, Anne, and Ben, as well as on a group of Dublin characters who work and interact with the growing juggernaut that is Guinness.
Knight, who is known for being the mastermind behind ‘Peaky Blinders,’ most recently created ‘Rogue Heroes,’ an action-packed thriller series detailing the formation of the iconic Special Forces unit SAS, and BBC’s ‘This Town,’ a show that explores the vibrant ska and two-tone music scene that emerged in Coventry and Birmingham in the late ’70s and early ’80s. He also developed Netflix’s eponymous adaptation of Anthony Doerr’s ‘All the Light We Cannot See,’ which revolves around the intersecting paths of Marie-Laure, a blind French teenager, and Werner, a German soldier, during World War II. Knight’s recent credits include ‘Great Expectations,’ ‘See,’ and ‘Spencer.’
Shankland previously worked with Knight on ‘Rogue Heroes’ by directing several episodes of the series. His recent directorial credits include ‘The Serpent,’ ‘Les Misérables,’ and ‘The City and the City.’ Mounia Akl, on the other hand, is known for helming two episodes of the BBC miniseries ‘Boiling Point.’ The filmmaker also directed the movie ‘Costa Brava, Lebanon,’ which depicts a couple’s efforts to build a utopian existence away from the pollution of Beirut.
Partridge is known for playing Aubrey Argylle in Matthew Vaughn’s action thriller ‘Argylle,’ Tewkesbury in the ‘Enola Holmes’ films, and Sid Vicious in Danny Boyle’s biographical series ‘Pistol.’ Boyle recently starred as John Wilkes Booth in the period drama ‘Manhunt’ and Maj. Harry Crosby in the war series ‘Masters of the Air.’ Wilmot is known for his portrayals of Nikolai in ‘Anna Karenina’ and Seamus Gallagher in ‘Bodkin.’
“The Guinness dynasty is known the world over — wealth, poverty, power, influence, and great tragedy are all intertwined to create a rich tapestry of material to draw from. I’ve always been fascinated by their stories and am excited to bring the characters to life for the world to see,” shared Knight in a statement.
“We are beyond thrilled to be working with Kudos and the incredible Steven Knight to bring the story of the Guinness family to Netflix audiences. It has all the power of Peaky Blinders but the scale and the sweep of a true family saga. Set in the UK and the US, we cannot wait to see this realized,” added Anne Mensah, Netflix UK’s Vice-President of Content.
Manchester is a popular filming destination as far as Netflix projects are concerned. The renowned city recently served as the backdrop for productions such as ‘Bodies‘ and ‘Fool Me Once.’ On the other hand, Knight previously shot ‘Peaky Blinders’ in Cheshire, which also hosted the filming of other Netflix shows such as ‘The Stranger’ and ‘Safe.’
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