Galvanized by pre-sales to France, Germany and Spain on awaited Icelandic crime series “Reykjavik Fusion,” Erik Barmack’s ahead of the game L.A-based Wild Sheep Content has boarded “Good Bones,” a New Zealand murder mystery series.
Wild Sheep by Barmack, a former Netflix head of international originals with oversight over “The Witcher,” “Casa de Papel,” “Kingdom” and “Sacred Games,” will co-produce “Good Bones,” with Luminous Beast.
One of New Zealand most in-demand new production companies Luminous Beast burst on the scene with Sky Originals series “INSiDE,” a 2021 International Emmy winner, and then “After the Party,” picked up by the U.K.’s Channel 4, and whose lead performance by Robyn Malcom was hailed by The Guardian as “among the best television portrayals in years, from anywhere in the world.”
Backed by The Mediapro Studio, Wild Sheep will also handle international distribution.
“Good Bones” is now funded by Sky New Zealand and Wild Sheep Content.
Set up in 2019, Wild Sheep quickly drew heat for its ability to place projects with global streamers, selling over 25 projects to twelve global partners over its four years of operation, playing off important IP, such as 2024’s SEGA vid game crime action drama “Like a Dragon, Yakuza,” produced with Amazon MGM Studios.
Ever more lately, however, Wild Sheep is bringing productions to the open market. “In today’s risk-averse international media market, we’re finding tremendous opportunity in teaming up with top talent from smaller territories to bring their local stories global,” Barmack said.
Aired on French network TF1, the pilot for “Erica,” adapting Camila Láckberg’s early worldwide best selling Fjällbacka crime novels, scored a 5.2 million viewers.
Written by Luminous Beast founders Dan Musgove and Shoshana McCallum, and directed by further founder Peter Salmon, murder mystery drama comedy “Good Bones” stars Josh Thomson (“Wrecking Crew”) in a drama-comedy, which turns on Sal, an incurable procrastinator.
Pregnant wife Meghan challenges him to step up and prove he can take on the responsibility of parenthood. Sal impulse buys a rundown deceased estate. Seeing the dump, Meghan leaves him and moves in with her parents. Now Sal has to do-up this ramshackle villa before the baby comes. Its most major problem, however, is that its’ a murder house, the previous owner dying in mysterious circumstances and his wife disappeared – a cold case Sal must close before he can finish the renos.
“‘Good Bones’ follows a fully-grown man in a coming-of-age story, racing to solve a crime, and get the new roof on, in time to save his marriage,” Luminous Beast summed up.
“Sometimes, these days, it looks like that if you want to be a successful producer, either you need government funds or do cozy crime based on huge books and/or telenovelas,” Barmack told Variety.
“‘Good Bones’ is made by a production team that is making series at the highest level. It’s with Sky and as New Zealand funds. It’s in English language that will go out to the rest of the world and is about themes that are common enough to be interesting for everyone,” he added.
Also, Barmack observed, “Good Bones” is one third relationship comedy, one third home renovation, and one third murder mystery. I’ve never seen those genres together.”
“We [Prime and Sky Originals] are big Josh Thomson fans and, naturally, are big fans of the talented creatives from Luminous Beast. They did win an Emmy after all,” said Sky Originals Senior Commissioner Thomas Robins.
“So having them bring us Good Bones – an uber cool, intrinsically New Zealand story was very exciting. We are thrilled to support them (and their desire to support emerging local talent) with this unique take on a classic kiwi home renovation. It’s a big-hearted story destined for a big audience.”
Shows from the Luminous team have often gone global. Musgrove and McCallum were writers on “Creamerie,” a Hulu U.S. pick-up. Salmon helmed episodes of “Wanted” acquired by Netflix while winning him a Best Director New Zealand TV Award.
Variety spoke briefly to McCallum and Musgrove about the genre layering originality of “Good Bones,” its ambivalent take on coming of age, and how Auckland is more expensive than the French Riviera:
Erik describes “Good Bones” as beginning as a relationship comedy, which adds home improvement and then murder mystery. This looks like genre blending but of an unusual kind, genre layering.
Dan Musgrove: That’s a that’s a great way of putting it. New Zealand has quite a strong tradition of dark, spooky comedies. They often work best when there’s a tight duo at their center sometimes romantic but often buddy-ish. We started with the idea of a typical New Zealand man which is quite just hopeless, essentially, who just talks a lot about doing something and never does it. The main sort of victim in that situation is his wife. We put him at the centre of a home improvement, which is like a real life horror show and then and then a criminal investigation.
And what inspired that?
Musgrove: It was drawn out of from conversations around our own terrible experiences with home improvement which we all three creators have had. I almost got a divorce over tiling. It’s really when a relationship gets really put under pressure and then we thought of his perhaps finding a body or some evidence in the walls and realising that the actual house itself not only needs a do-up but actually a thorough investigation.
You also described “Good Bones” as a coming-of-age story….
Shoshana McCallum: In a relationship, there’s always a push and pull. Of these two characters, one of them has had a moment where they’re suddenly saying: “Oh, my God, we have to grow up.” So they’re feeling intense pressure and projecting it on somebody else who probably does need to grow up a little bit, but just on a really nice kind of journey of self-discovery for both of them. Growing up isn’t also like letting go of everything that you find fun. It’s a coming of age story for both of them and their relationship as well as, wrapped up in renovation disaster and crime scenes.
In an age when many series are quite spectacular but leave audiences cold, one thing you’re looking for is heart, emotions. I would imagine that lead actor Josh Thomson will bring some of that by the empathy which he creates with the hapless masculine global population, which by reports is quite large.
McCallum: Josh is also a brilliant dramatic actor. In fact, before he found comedy, he always imagined himself to be a dramatic actor, But he’s just too funny. He’s really witty, and he also pulls off bumbling idiot. It’s just a lovely, warm combination when you put it all together. We worked with him on our show “INSiDE,” which was not dissimilar in tone. We hadn’t seen that depth of performance from him until we made “INSiDE.” It’s super exciting to keep that relationship with him going.
“Good Bones” looks to be given a singularity by being set in the Auckland housing market…
Musgrove: It’s a universal issue, but there’s a very specific housing crisis for New Zealand that we have in Auckland which is still one of the highest per capita in income and one of the most expensive cities in the world for housing.
McCallum: I remember at one point when I was just flatting in Auckland reading something about Grey Lynn, which is just a suburb of Auckland, being more expensive than the French Riviera.
Do you see your auteurist traits emerging in what you do because they’re not exactly the same series.
Musgrove: We weren’t the central creators on “After the Party” which was created by Robyn Malcolm and the great New Zealand writer Dianne Taylor. But we’re trying to be a creatively led business. A few more productions and we’ll be able to see a nice lineage which from Inside to Good Bones looks light slightly off beat psychological comedies.
