Munich, September 25, 2012.
 
Italy’s biggest broadcaster RAI secured the broadcast rights to crime series “Jo” (working title/formerly “Le Grand”) – featuring Hollywood superstar Jean Reno. Reno portrays Jo St-Clair, a veteran detective in Paris’ elite Criminal Brigade tackling the city’s most challenging murder cases. “Jo” takes the audience behind the scenes of Paris’ most iconic locations – the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Catacombs, Place Vendome – as we follow St-Clair in his relentless pursuit of justice.  “Jo” is produced by Atlantique Productions.
 
Axel Böhm, Regional Sales Director Italy says “‘Jo’ has an amazing cast and outstanding directors working alongside household names Jean Reno and René Balcer. Right from the start the series created a huge buzz around the world and I am thrilled that now RAI picked up ‘Jo’.”
 
“Jo” was created by Emmy Award-winning producer René Balcer, writer and producer of over 400 episodes of the “Law & Order” franchise and creator of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”. He serves as the series’ showrunner and Executive Producer, writing and producing the show in association with co-creators Franck Ollivier and Malina Detcheva. Fighting crime alongside Reno are Tom Austen (“The Borgias”) as Jo’s rookie partner and American TV star Jill Hennessy (“Crossing Jordan”) as his adviser and friend. Hollywood newcomer Heida Reed (“One Day”) plays Jo’s estranged daughter Adèle.
 
Charlotte Sieling (“The Bridge”), Stefan Schwartz (“Dexter”), Kristoffer Nyholm (“Forbrydelsen – The Killing”) and Sheree Folkson (“Hit and Miss”) directed the eight one-hour episodes. “Jo” is the first drama series shot entirely on location in Paris and filmed in English.
 
About Jean Reno
Known for his legendary performance in “The Big Blue”, as well as of “cleaner” Léon in “Léon – The Professional”, Jean Reno boasts a remarkable movie track record of more than 70 films, among them international blockbusters like “La Femme Nikita”, “Mission: Impossible”, “Godzilla”, “Ronin”, “The Crimson Rivers”, “Pink Panther”, “The Da Vinci Code” and “22 Bullets”.
 
About René Balcer
René Balcer is an Emmy Award-winning television writer, director and producer. He is most noted for his writing and production work for the television series “Law & Order” and for creating its spin-off series “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”. “Law & Order” ran for twenty seasons on NBC, tied for the longest running drama on American television. Balcer has won a number of awards for writing and producing, including an Emmy in 1997 as Executive Producer of “Law & Order”, a Peabody and a Writers Guild award for writing.
 
About Atlantique Productions
Atlantique Productions is Lagardère Entertainment’s company specialized in developing, financing and producing ambitious international television series. Through its network of talents hailing from across Europe and America, Atlantique’s internationally financed programs enable the best European writers, producers and actors to work together with the most sought-after US talents. With a fast-growing portfolio of programs such as “Borgia”, “Transporter – The Series” and “Death in Paradise”, and by its commitment to high-value artistic and production content, Atlantique is a European company with a global influence.
 
About Red Arrow International
Red Arrow International (formerly: SevenOne International) is the worldwide programming sales company of Red Arrow Entertainment Group. By marketing the group’s projects and third-party producers, Red Arrow International offers an extensive portfolio of fictional and factual programming plus a strong format line-up.
Led by Jens Richter, Red Arrow International is a gap financer and secures international co-production and co-financing partners. Launched in January 2010, Red Arrow Entertainment Group combines a dynamic and growing group of 18 TV production companies spanning 9 countries, with powerful creative partnerships, including Dick de Rijk (“You Deserve It”; “Deal or No Deal”)  and Omri Marcus (“Eye Contact”). Red Arrow Entertainment Group is a ProSiebenSat.1 Group company which belongs to Europe‘s leading media groups, reaching more than 62 million TV households.