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‘Billions’: Can Showtime’s Big Bet Be TV’s First Wall Street-Based Hit?, Variety, January 13, 2016

‘Billions’: Can Showtime’s Big Bet Be TV’s First Wall Street-Based Hit?, Variety, January 13, 2016 Posted On Written By Damianista Comments Off on ‘Billions’: Can Showtime’s Big Bet Be TV’s First Wall Street-Based Hit?, Variety, January 13, 2016

‘Billions’: Can Showtime’s Big Bet Be TV’s First Wall Street-Based Hit?

By Cynthia Littleton, Variety, January 13, 2016

Damien Lewis Paul Giamatti Billions Variety Cover

CREDIT: GUIDO VITTI FOR VARIETY
The wolves of Wall Street have been an elusive target for television dramatists.Even the wave of antiheroes unleashed by Tony Soprano has yet to yield a show revolving around the megalomaniacs who rule the financial sector.Showtime chief David Nevins has long sought a series set in the investment arena, going back more than 15 years to his days as head of development at Fox. Writer-producers Brian Koppelman and David Levien have pursued the same prize on and off for a decade. Andrew Ross Sorkin, the influential New York Times business writer, knew there was great narrative drama to be mined from the world he covers.
PHOTO: GUIDO VITTI FOR VARIETY; GROOMING: SARA GLICK (LEWIS); GAREN TOLKIN AT EXCLUSIVE ARTISTS MANAGEMENT (GIAMATTI); STYLING: MICHAEL FISHER FOR STARWORKS; LOCATION: THE ALGONQUIN HOTEL, NYC

The invisible hand of the market — with a little push from CAA — brought those mutual interests together during the past three years to create “Billions.”

The series, which premieres Jan. 17, revolves around the new breed of alpha-male capitalists who thrive by working on the razor’s edge of activist investing, hostile takeovers and incredibly intricate systems of financing and risk management. But these self-made billionaires aren’t working in household-name firms like Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley. They’re running hedge funds that are more often than not located in tony suburbs miles from New York’s traditional financial district.

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