Press Release
October 19, 2021 (Burbank, CA) ─ Adding to its growing roster of scripted programming, The CW Network acquired two original series with the one-hour Italian drama LEONARDO, starring Aidan Turner (“Poldark,” “The Hobbit”) in the titular role, and the half-hour Australian comedy-drama, BUMP, starring Nathalie Morris (“Almost Paradise,” “One Lane Bridge”), it was announced today by Kevin Levy, Executive Vice President, Program Planning, Scheduling and Acquisitions, The CW. Premiere dates and times of the series’ U.S. broadcast debuts will be announced later.
LEONARDO explores the secrets and drama behind the genius of Leonardo da Vinci (Aidan Turner, “Poldark,” “The Hobbit”) – his life, his work and his personal struggles set against the backdrop of Renaissance Italy. The eight-part series follows da Vinci as he grows into an unparalleled genius and renowned polymath whose work overturned the established order. His restless curiosity flitted between arts, science and technology, driven by a profound quest for knowledge and determined to unfold the mysteries of the world around him. The series unlocks the enigma of this extraordinary man, through an untold story of mystery and passion.
LEONARDO also stars Matilda de Angelis (“The Undoing”) as Caterina da Cremona, Freddie Highmore (“The Good Doctor,” “Bates Motel”) as Stefano Giraldi, Giancarlo Giannini (“Seven Beauties,” “Quantum of Solace”) as Andrea del Verrocchio, Carlos Cuevas (“Someone Has To Die”) as Salaì, Alessandro Sperduti (“Paul, Apostle of Christ”) as Tommaso Masini, James D’Arcy (“Avengers: Endgame”) as Ludovico Sforza, Robin Renucci (“Dolce Fine Giornata”) as Piero da Vinci, Hugo Becker (“Gossip Girl”) as Thierry, Miriam Dalmazio (“Anna”) as Beatrice D’Este and Max Bennet (“Bohemian Rhapsody”) as Cesare Borgia.
LEONARDO was created by Frank Spotnitz (“The X-Files,” “The Man in the High Castle,” “Medici”) and Steve Thompson (“Sherlock,” “Doctor Who”) and directed by Dan Percival (“The Man in the High Castle,” “Death Comes To Pemberley”) and Alexis Sweet (“Don Matteo,” “Back to the Island”). The series is executive produced by Luca Bernabei, Daniele Passani, Sara Melodia and Luisa Cotta Ramosino for Lux Vide, Frank Spotnitz and Emily Feller for Big Light Productions, Freddie Highmore with his Alfresco Pictures, and Brendan Fitzgerald for Sony Pictures Television (SPT).
Produced by Lux Vide with Rai Fiction and Big Light Productions, in association with France Télévisions and RTVE, LEONARDO is co-produced and distributed worldwide by SPT.
BUMP is an Australian comedy-drama series about Olympia (‘Oly’) Chalmers-Davis (Nathalie Morris, “Almost Paradise,” “One Lane Bridge”), an overachieving 17-year-old student who knows exactly where she’s going. Her boyfriend, doctor’s son Lachie (Peter Thurnwald, “King Kong: Skull Island,” “Thor: Ragnarok”), ticks all the right boxes; she and her best friend, Reema (Safia Arain, “One Lane Bridge,” “Black Christmas”), share an ambitious 10-year plan: top grades, international relations at a university, work for the UN, save the world.
Oly’s mother Angie (Claudia Karvan, “Love My Way,” “The Secret Life Of Us”) is the head of English at her inner city high school; and her father Dom (Angus Samson, “Fargo,” “The Lincoln Lawyer”) is a recently redundant executive who’s been spending nights on his moored boat. Angie and Dom are lost in their own mid-life reckoning.
At school Oly collapses in agony. She’s sped to hospital in an ambulance, accompanied by Angie, and they are both stunned – horrified! – to discover that Oly is in labor. Blindsided, in deep shock, Oly rejects the baby entirely. If she doesn’t acknowledge the baby, then she doesn’t have to acknowledge how her life has irrevocably changed, or that the baby’s father is not her boyfriend; it’s Santiago “Santi” Hernandez (Carlos Sanson, Jr., “Legacies,” “Malibu Rescue: The Next Wave”), the laid-back son of Angie’s major work crush: Chilean soccer coach Matias (newcomer Ricardo Scheihing-Vasquez).
The Hernandez and Chalmers families clash over differing expectations of family obligations and with Angie and Dom on the brink of separation already, and Matias and his wife Rosa (Paula Garcia, “Little White Lies”) battling their own messy household dynamic, the arrival of the baby sets off each family in different ways.
As the series develops, so does our understanding of what drew Oly and Santi together in the first place, and how it could bring them closer now – if they can navigate this sudden onset of adulthood, and if their families don’t get in the way.
Created by Claudia Karvan and Kelsey Munro, BUMP is produced by Roadshow Rough Diamond (“Romper Stomper,” “Les Norton,” “Australian Gangster”) with John Edwards (“Love My Way,” “The Secret Life Of Us,” “Offspring”), Dan Edwards (“Romper Stomper,” “Australian Gangster”) and Claudia Karvan (“Love My Way,” “Doctor Doctor,” “Spirited”) serving as producers.
LEONARDO explores the secrets and drama behind the genius of Leonardo da Vinci (Aidan Turner, “Poldark,” “The Hobbit”) – his life, his work and his personal struggles set against the backdrop of Renaissance Italy. The eight-part series follows da Vinci as he grows into an unparalleled genius and renowned polymath whose work overturned the established order. His restless curiosity flitted between arts, science and technology, driven by a profound quest for knowledge and determined to unfold the mysteries of the world around him. The series unlocks the enigma of this extraordinary man, through an untold story of mystery and passion.
LEONARDO also stars Matilda de Angelis (“The Undoing”) as Caterina da Cremona, Freddie Highmore (“The Good Doctor,” “Bates Motel”) as Stefano Giraldi, Giancarlo Giannini (“Seven Beauties,” “Quantum of Solace”) as Andrea del Verrocchio, Carlos Cuevas (“Someone Has To Die”) as Salaì, Alessandro Sperduti (“Paul, Apostle of Christ”) as Tommaso Masini, James D’Arcy (“Avengers: Endgame”) as Ludovico Sforza, Robin Renucci (“Dolce Fine Giornata”) as Piero da Vinci, Hugo Becker (“Gossip Girl”) as Thierry, Miriam Dalmazio (“Anna”) as Beatrice D’Este and Max Bennet (“Bohemian Rhapsody”) as Cesare Borgia.
LEONARDO was created by Frank Spotnitz (“The X-Files,” “The Man in the High Castle,” “Medici”) and Steve Thompson (“Sherlock,” “Doctor Who”) and directed by Dan Percival (“The Man in the High Castle,” “Death Comes To Pemberley”) and Alexis Sweet (“Don Matteo,” “Back to the Island”). The series is executive produced by Luca Bernabei, Daniele Passani, Sara Melodia and Luisa Cotta Ramosino for Lux Vide, Frank Spotnitz and Emily Feller for Big Light Productions, Freddie Highmore with his Alfresco Pictures, and Brendan Fitzgerald for Sony Pictures Television (SPT).
Produced by Lux Vide with Rai Fiction and Big Light Productions, in association with France Télévisions and RTVE, LEONARDO is co-produced and distributed worldwide by SPT.
BUMP is an Australian comedy-drama series about Olympia (‘Oly’) Chalmers-Davis (Nathalie Morris, “Almost Paradise,” “One Lane Bridge”), an overachieving 17-year-old student who knows exactly where she’s going. Her boyfriend, doctor’s son Lachie (Peter Thurnwald, “King Kong: Skull Island,” “Thor: Ragnarok”), ticks all the right boxes; she and her best friend, Reema (Safia Arain, “One Lane Bridge,” “Black Christmas”), share an ambitious 10-year plan: top grades, international relations at a university, work for the UN, save the world.
Oly’s mother Angie (Claudia Karvan, “Love My Way,” “The Secret Life Of Us”) is the head of English at her inner city high school; and her father Dom (Angus Samson, “Fargo,” “The Lincoln Lawyer”) is a recently redundant executive who’s been spending nights on his moored boat. Angie and Dom are lost in their own mid-life reckoning.
At school Oly collapses in agony. She’s sped to hospital in an ambulance, accompanied by Angie, and they are both stunned – horrified! – to discover that Oly is in labor. Blindsided, in deep shock, Oly rejects the baby entirely. If she doesn’t acknowledge the baby, then she doesn’t have to acknowledge how her life has irrevocably changed, or that the baby’s father is not her boyfriend; it’s Santiago “Santi” Hernandez (Carlos Sanson, Jr., “Legacies,” “Malibu Rescue: The Next Wave”), the laid-back son of Angie’s major work crush: Chilean soccer coach Matias (newcomer Ricardo Scheihing-Vasquez).
The Hernandez and Chalmers families clash over differing expectations of family obligations and with Angie and Dom on the brink of separation already, and Matias and his wife Rosa (Paula Garcia, “Little White Lies”) battling their own messy household dynamic, the arrival of the baby sets off each family in different ways.
As the series develops, so does our understanding of what drew Oly and Santi together in the first place, and how it could bring them closer now – if they can navigate this sudden onset of adulthood, and if their families don’t get in the way.
Created by Claudia Karvan and Kelsey Munro, BUMP is produced by Roadshow Rough Diamond (“Romper Stomper,” “Les Norton,” “Australian Gangster”) with John Edwards (“Love My Way,” “The Secret Life Of Us,” “Offspring”), Dan Edwards (“Romper Stomper,” “Australian Gangster”) and Claudia Karvan (“Love My Way,” “Doctor Doctor,” “Spirited”) serving as producers.
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