Boundary Pond is set in 1967 on Boundary Pond, a lake that straddles the American-Canadian border between the province of Québec and the state of Maine. The predominantly English-language Boundary Pond is a thriller that unfolds against a backdrop of capsizing canoes, ice divers that emit a terrifying sound and campfires by the lake.
In the story, the idyllic cottage life and warmth and familiarity of the woods of Boundary Pond become treacherous when a mysterious death disrupts the normally peaceful lake community, where outsiders have summer cabins and locals struggle through the winter. shakes the foundations. When a second body turns up, murder is suspected.
Louis Choquete (pictured) is attached to the project as showrunner and director, and the project will hit the market in the coming weeks. William S. Messier writes the first two scripts and a serial Bible. The Sherbrooke, Quebe-based writer, screenwriter and translator wrote the docudrama series Chicanes d'héritages for Vrai and co-created and co-wrote the web series Terror 404, which was for ICI Tou.tv.
Choquete has directed multiple series in France and Quebec, including CBC's police procedural crime drama 19-2 and the first season of Canal+'s Mafiosa, which has been sold to more than 61 countries. His resume also includes the second season of Versailles, Philharmonia and, most recently, Mirage, a six-episode series co-produced by French, German and Canadian companies.
Louis-Philippe Drolet of KOTV and Sharon Levy and Lisa Fahrenholt of Endemol Shine North America are the executive producers for Boundary Pond.
The novel Boundary: The Last Summer, to which KOTV previously secured the rights, was originally published in 2014 and has received awards including author Michaud's second Governor General's Award for Fiction.
“I am thrilled to partner up with Endemol Shine North America to bring the amazing novel Boundary to life in a very organic partnership between our two companies, as Boundary Pond unfolds on the Canadian-U.S. border, and I can’t wait to bring it to market,” said Mia Desroches, Vice-President of International Sales at KOTV. “This unique and captivating crime thriller will showcase both man’s worst and most beautiful natures.”
“We are very excited to continue our push into the scripted space through our partnership with KOTV and Louis Choquette, and bring this incredible thriller to viewers across the globe,” said Levy, CEO of Banijay-owned Endemol Shine North America.
“Unlike in most Nordic Noirs, where nature’s cold and remote hostility dictates the tone, it’s the warmth and familiarity of Boundary Pond’s selling that makes it so treacherous – a play on contrasts between the idyllic cottage life and the more terrifying wilderness all around. It’s a crime thriller where the woods, whether with their warm memories or with their haunting presence, play a crucial part in how the story unfolds,” added Choquette.
