[Submitted via press release]
SABC3 aims for the jackpot with new drama series
When the stakes are high and the chips are down, it’s brother against brother in the game of life, business and family. Introducing High Rollers, SABC3’s riveting new local drama series set against the backdrop of the glamorous and backstabbing world of gambling.
This new 26-part drama series, the first to be commissioned by the channel for a number of years, starts airing on Tuesday, 2nd April 2013 at 8.30pm.
High Rollers is created by the Rous House Productions team of producing and directing brothers, Luke and Josh Rous. Josh Rous recently directed the box office hit rom-com Semi Soet as well as the drama Discreet and the duo have been responsible for a number of SAFTA winning television productions such as Ga Re Dumele, Gauteng Maboneng and City Ses’la.
High Rollers will feature the talents of several A-list stars of stage and screen. The writing team is headed by Erfsondes head writer and veteran actress Henriëtta Gryffenberg.
The series is an inter-generational family drama centring round three “brothers” – the Machiavellian casino kingpin David, his flawed and volatile older brother Paul and David’s trusted right-hand man Thato “TT” Mogale – who are divided by their love for money, family and God. From the boardroom to the bedroom, each man plays the hand dealt to him as they navigate a precarious tightrope between loyalty and betrayal.
“SABC3 is extremely excited to be advancing the public broadcaster’s proud tradition of quality English television drama with this exceptional new series,” says Risuna Mayimele, SABC3’s Marketing Manager.
“High Rollers promises to deliver high production values, an outstanding cast, complex characters and a compelling storyline that pivots around the risky gambles we take in life – whether to simply accept our lot or put everything on the line in the pursuit of personal and professional riches.”
Each one-hour episode will delve into the world anchored by King’s casino and five-star hotel complex, an upmarket establishment in Johannesburg’s north-eastern suburbs.
Says producer Luke Rous: “We envisaged the casino as a metaphor for life and how we gamble on a daily basis with love, religion and family. Of course, the central focus is on the human drama and the interpersonal dynamics at play, with the characters’ vices and ambition threatening to destroy their lives and those of their loved ones.
“Our aim was to craft a dynastic family saga with strong, well-drawn characters that hook the viewer and reel them into the unfolding drama.”
The ties that bind are often the ties that blind… especially when the unwritten code of brotherhood starts to fall apart. Tune in to High Rollers on SABC3, from Tuesday, 2nd April 2013 at 8.30pm, to see which way the dice falls.