At a press breakfast held in New York today, El Rey Network executives announced that Matador, an original, scripted action series created by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, and produced in association with K/O Paper Products, the coveted writing/producing team behind Sleepy Hollow, Fringe, Star Trekand the Transformer franchise, will start production in Los Angeles at the end of March. El Rey Network and founder Robert Rodriguez also confirmed that he will direct the first episode of the series which will make its primetime debut just following the World Cup competition in July 2014. Matador is the second original series to launch of the genre-busting cable network. The network's first scripted project, Rodriguez’s highly-anticipated From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, premieres on March 11, 2014 at 9 pm ET/PT.
Irreverent and action-packed, Matador chronicles the unlikely rise of Antonio "Matador" Bravo, a popular soccer star, who comes to be known as much for his playboy antics off the field as his dynamic moves on it. But what his fans and family don't realize is that it's all a cover--in truth, he is a skilled covert operative executing missions for a little known branch of the CIA. Matador has the kind of fame and notoriety that affords him access to powerful circles of corruption and villainy. But, in balancing the dueling roles in which he's been cast, he will be forced to confront the question of his true identity...and it is this mission which will prove to be his most dangerous.
Bob Orci said: "This is a project that I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember and when I asked Robert if El Rey Network could be our home for Matador, he embraced the idea immediately. And that's what is special about El Rey Network-it is a place where creatives can create and where success is measured by your ability to tell a story well-and that is incredibly appealing on many levels."
Rodriguez added: "Bob Orci and his team are absolutely committed to delivering high quality, visceral content that will explode off the screen. They are some of the best storytellers in the business and I am confident that El Rey Network's viewers will be engaged from the minute the show hits the air."
Executive Producers Jay Beattie and Dan Dworkin, also showrunners, will pen the first episode alongside executive producers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Andrew Orci. Also joining as executive producers are Heather Kadin of K/O Paper Products; and Robert Rodriguez along with FactoryMade Ventures and El Rey Network co-founders John Fogelman and Cristina Patwa. Entertainment One Television (eOne) exclusively handles all media rights for Matador, with the exception of broadcast rights.
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