The New York Times-20080129-Crash In Starz Orbit- -Brief-

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Crash In Starz Orbit; [Brief]

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Several producers of Crash have signed on to produce a 13-episode television series based on that Academy Award-winning film. This one-hour series will be the first original drama on Starz, which will produce it with Lionsgate. Production is expected to begin in the spring, with a premiere by the end of the year. Crash received the Oscar for best picture in 2006. Among the film's producers, Paul Haggis, Bobby Moresco, Bob Yari, Don Cheadle, Mark R. Harris and Tom Nunan will take part in the television series. This series will present an opportunity to delve into many subjects, not just race relations in L.A., Mr. Cheadle, right, who co-starred in the film, said in a news release. I don't think you can do 13 episodes on that subject and keep people interested. The challenge will be to craft the series characters in such a way as to get beneath the skin that supposedly differentiates them and create entertaining story lines that show the hurdles and obstacles we all struggle to overcome day to day. Starz is available in 16 million homes. Lionsgate, which also produces Weeds for the premium channel Showtime, reached an interim agreement with the Writers Guild of America last week.

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