Red Planet Pictures is to collaborate with one of the UK’s hottest writing talents, Ryan Calais Cameron, to adapt Mike Phillips’ BLOOD RIGHTS (6 x 60”).
Pioneering writer and broadcast journalist Phillips’ ground-breaking novel is the first in his Sam Dean series featuring the charismatic, investigative journalist and was first published in 1989.
Described by Time Out as “a winner, involving snatched heiresses, sex, drugs, and double dealing”, Phillips broke new ground in the crime writing space with BLOOD RIGHTS, exploring the relationship between Great Britain and the African diaspora with Bernadine Evaristo commenting, “His novels vibrate with the tension between power and privilege, with characters who exemplify the most ruthless and desperate aspects of human behaviour.”
The novel was republished in 2022 and is being adapted for Red Planet Pictures by Calais Cameron as a contemporary thriller which peels back the layers of modern British society and shows that when money and power are at stake, everything is connected.
Calais Cameron, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of multi award-winning theatre company, Nouveau Riche, will work with Red Planet Pictures' Executive Producer Tom Mullens.
Mullens was also producer of the ITV hit drama, OUR HOUSE, and is working with the author, Louise Candlish, on further adaptations and original content.
An alumnus of the Royal Court writer’s Supergroup, Calais Cameron is one of theatre’s hottest writer-directors and his highly acclaimed play 'FOR BLACK BOYS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE HUE GETS TOO HEAVY' was a sell-out at The Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs in 2022 with the production set to transfer to the Apollo Theatre in London’s West End this Spring.The play has been nominated for Best New Play at the Olivier Awards 2023.
RETROGRADE, Calais Cameron’s play about the Golden Age of Hollywood and Sidney Poitier, will receive its world premiere when staged at the Kiln Theatre in April.
Calais Cameron has also written QUEENS OF SHEBA (co-writer Jessica Hagan) and TYPICAL (starring Richard Blackwood). Both were sell-out hits at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2018 and 2019 respectively and winning (The Stage) Edinburgh Fringe Awards, QUEENS has been revived multiple times, toured the UK and ran at the Chelsea Factory, New York in January 2023.
Ryan Calais Cameron said: “I’m honoured to be adapting Mike Phillips’ ground-breaking novel for the screen. The themes of Blood Rights are just as relevant today and I can't wait to bring the iconic character of Sam Dean to life in our series.”
Tom Mullens, Executive Producer, Red Planet Pictures, said: “Ryan is an outstanding talent and I’m thrilled he’s adapting Blood Rights for us. There’s no-one better placed to dramatise the vibrant and exhilarating world of Blood Rights for a new audience.”
This deal furthers Red Planet Pictures’ broad development slate working with a mix of established and up-and-coming writers on a wide range of adaptions and original drama for international and domestic broadcast platforms.
The book deal was negotiated by Rebecca Watson of VHA Ltd on behalf of Antony Harwood and Alex Jones, Joint Managing Director for Red Planet Pictures.