The TV version has been written by Alexander Ruemelin, Joseph Mallozzi ,Paul Mullie, Carl Binder, and Steve Bailie, with Lost director Stephen Williams helming the pilot. Other episodes in the series feature Bruce McDonald (Degrassi: The Next Generation, Queer as Folk) and Andy Mikita (Stargate Universe, Sanctuary). Transporter also sees François Berléand returning as Inspector Tarconi, Andrea Osvart as Carla – a former CIA agent, handler and love interest for Martin – Delphine Chanéac in the recurring role of Juliette, a reporter who seems to know a lot about Frank's work, and Rachel Skarsten as Delia, the daughter of someone from Frank's past.
British actor Vance says it was a 'schoolboy's dream' to reprise the role that made lead Jason Statham a star. "You get to drive the fast cars, get in all the fights, get all the beautiful women," he told The Hollywood Reporter on his character in the 12-part TV series. Yet if playing Frank Martin seemed a boyhood dream come true, the actual Transporter production became more of a nightmare, with extensive delays, production and budget battles and a severe on-set injury that put Vance in the hospital last October and put the Transporter shoot on hold for months. Things were further complicated by Transporter's unique set-up. Made outside the network series system, the big-budget show was made as a co-production between Atlantique Productions in France and Canadian operation QVF with four national broadcasters on board: HBO Cinemax in the U.S., Canadian pay-TV operators TMN and Movie Central, RTL Television in Germany and France's M6.
"We had a decent budget so the actual shoot wasn't much different than a network shoot," Vance explained, "the big difference with this kind of international co-production is you have a lot more people involved in the decision making. You have the broadcasters in the different countries – all from different cultural backgrounds, with different markets and different needs - and they all have their own opinions. It took a long time to get everyone agreed on what we were shooting here. I mean the Transporter is really in the sweet spot of the action genre. You can't mess with it."
The high profile adaptation is supposed to be a game-changer as one of global TV's most ambitious projects. Following The Tudors, The Borgias, Combat Hospital and The Pillars of the Earth, Transporter is the latest in the new wave of high-end drama series financed and produced outside of the U.S. that aims to attract audiences both in Europe and North America. Even among this company, Transporter- with a reputed budget of $3.3 million an episode- is arguably the most ambitious. If it works, it could pave the way for a slew of internationally made English-language series, many of which are already in the pipeline.
Airing on Cinemax in the U.S., the success of Transporter is also key because unlike a miniseries like Pillars of the Earth, the show is a one-hour drama - the meat of any channel's schedule. In the U.S., cable outlets such as AMC and FX and pay-TV networks like Showtime, Starz and Cinemax are increasingly using original series to brand their networks. But drama is expensive, and often even successful U.S. shows - think Breaking Bad, Mad Men or Justified - have struggled to get on primetime in the big European markets.
Transporter's international model, in theory, solves those problems; even though the show is breaking a lot of rules, and there have been some considerable setbacks. In addition to the logistical headaches of making a European production in English, turning Toronto into Paris or Berlin and staying true to Besson's original vision while satisfying the show's multiple international producers, the departure of two showrunners early in the process cast a cloud of uncertainty around the future of the Transporter experiment. Weeks into the shoot, Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie abruptly left the production, citing "creative differences." British director Steve Shill (Dexter, Desperate Housewives) and veteran supervising producer Karen Wookey (Andromeda) came on board. The move effectively represented a retooling for a series with lots of working parts - multiple units, second units, fight units – and production on both sides of the Atlantic. Fred Fuchs, a Toronto-based executive producer on Transporter, said the series simply had to raise its production game to achieve the cutting-edge action/adventure scenes intended. "This is a hard show, and we brought in new people, not because of a problem, but because this is the nature of filmmaking. It’s not an exact science," he said.
"We'd just finished shooting the fourth episode [out of 12] and prepping the next two when we parted ways with the production," Mallozzi told The Hollywood Reporter without giving any details. "There was no drama, no big clash, no hard feelings, and no scandal," insists Klaus Zimmermann, whose French firm Atlantique is producing Transporter with QVF in Canada. Yet there certainly had been upheaval on the set, with the director of photography and the costume designer subsequently replaced, along with much of the electrical and transportation units.
The change in on-set leadership was key since Transporter was not using the traditional showrunner model of production. Under that model, a single showrunner - like David Chase on The Sopranos - acts as the creative driver. But on Transporter, the real star is the brand itself - a franchise whose three features have made a collective $238 million worldwide and continue to see top ratings when they air on TV across the globe. So the show's producers took what could be called the Marvel Studios approach. Instead of a showrunner's individual vision, everyone on Transporter was meant to be working to deliver a TV version of the film brand.
"In America, the rule is, 'One show, one showrunner.' But that wasn't the case for Transporter - it was a collective effort," says Zimmermann. "When you're working with a franchise, you have to protect the integrity of the brand. Showrunners may come and go, but the brand stays." Fuchs, the show's Toronto-based executive producer, adds that the show's unique sensibility only adds to the difficulty of translating it to the small screen. "The action is not typical action, there's a Luc Besson story style that we're trying to keep in the series," Fuchs says. Indeed, the Transporter/Besson brand is what the producers sold to the series' host networks, each of which put up about 25 percent to 30 percent of the show's budget. Crucially, Besson got behind the project personally, giving its producers full creative freedom for their small-screen adaptation. "I don't know how to make TV shows - I let the people who know how to do it take it on and hope they're doing their job," he insists.
There were several other logistical challenges connected to the production - not least of which was the balancing act of trying to satisfy four broadcast co-producers across two continents. Sources indicated the four partners - RTL in Germany, France's M6, HBO/Cinemax in the U.S. and HBO Canada - received a private screening in Toronto in late September last year that got mixed reviews, underlining the need for creative improvements. At the time a spokesperson for M6 denied this, adding that the network was planning for media visits to the shoot to quell any rumours of on-set turmoil. Takis Candilis, CEO of Atlantique parent company Lagardere, also denied that there were any problems with the Toronto screening, adding that "everyone is happy" with how the show is turning out.
By mid October production had been halted due to an on-set injury sustained by star Chris Vance. Injured while filming an action sequence on the Toronto set, producers of the series decided to suspend filming to provide ample time to recover. "We wanted to ensure Chris’ return to peak physical condition before putting him back in front of the camera to continue shooting this fast-paced, action-packed series," said showrunner Steve Shill in a statement. With Vance's recovery taking considerably longer than anticipated, the camera would not roll again until earlier this year.
Whatever Transporter's on-set headaches, the international financing model is already catching on. The first season of Canadian/U.K. production Combat Hospital aired on ABC and Global in Canada this year. Atlantique is in talks with Fox about a possible franchise project set in ancient Egypt. Starz and BBC Worldwide, which teamed up for the new season of BBC's aliens-among-us series Torchwood, have entered into a multiyear partnership to develop, produce and distribute original drama series. Germany's Tandem Communications - producers of Pillars of the Earth - have four long-running series projects in development, including the sci-fi crime drama The Sector, which they are developing with Ridley and Tony Scott's Scott Free shingle. Like Pillars, The Sector will be made using the traditional showrunner model, and Simon Mirren (Criminal Minds) has been tapped to fill that role. Tandem co-head Rola Bauer says that in the end, how a show gets made is less important than what, in the end, it delivers.
"Showrunner or not, the production model isn't as important as getting the voice right," Bauer says. "Transporter is obviously a great brand, and it's very important that they respect that brand. As long as they respect it and deliver the quality that fans of the film franchise expect, everyone will be happy. I hope all the international models work," she adds, "because it will open doors for all of us. Broadcasters in the U.S. know they can't keep putting all the money up for their own series."
Now back home in Vancouver, Mallozzi is optimistic - and diplomatic - about Transporter's future: "There are a lot of talented people working on the show. I'm confident that it will be great and do well." Viewers in North America will be able to judge whether Transporter's producer collective got it right early next year, when the series debuts on HBO Cinemax and HBO in Canada. European audiences have the first say, however. The series pilot premiered on Germany's RTL, drawing an impressive 4.01 million total viewers for a 17 per cent share of the 14-49 demographic. Those aren't blowout figures for RTL - Germany's leading commercial network - but should prove sufficient if the show can hold – or better build on - its initial audience. France's M6 bows the show in primetime next month.
Because of Transporter's complex financing structure, the series has to work in all four of its backing countries to guarantee a second season. The eyes of the international industry are on Transporter, the most ambitious of a slew of new English-language drama series partially or entirely financed outside the U.S.. These series – such as Atlantique's Parisian cop procedural Jo starring Jean Reno and Jill Hennessy; Tom Fontana's British-Canadian-U.S. period drama Copper or Crossing Lines, a European-style Criminal Minds from Germany's Tandem Communications, France's TF1 and Sony Pictures Television International – have long been the buzz of the international TV market.
"If it works, if the channels can make money with these series, I think you will see this model being used more and more," Vance said. "It’s becoming harder to finance television because, frankly, the audience expects more – so to get the budget you need, you have to find ways to spread the risk. It just makes sense to do shows this way. As long as you can make them work for the audience."
Initially, at least, Transporter seems to have worked for the German audience. The coming months will tell whether the ambitious action series works as well worldwide.
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