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“The Handmaid’s Tale” cinematographer Bérénice Eveno is directing “Sleepless Nights,” a female-led spy thriller set in Paris’ nightlife scene.
Commissioned by NBCUniversal for France, Spain, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland
and the former Yugoslavia, the six-part series is now in post-production and expected to be delivered by the end of 2026. SND is launching for international sales at Mipcom in Cannes.
The series was created by Inan Çiçek (“Flashback”) and Florian Spitzer (“The Countess of Monte Cristo”), and co-written with David Robert and Charlotte Robb, who both worked on “HPI,” the smash-hit French crime comedy series that inspired ABC’s “High Potential.”
Eveno has assembled a cast of up-and-coming talent for “Sleepless Nights,” including French actor Sawsan Abes (“Ourika”), pictured above.
Abes stars as Céline, a woman who has spent a decade working at The Red, an upscale strip club on Paris’ Champs-Élysées, where she has learned to use seduction to her advantage. Her life takes a dangerous turn when one of her clients turns out to be an arms dealer linked to a terrorist plot. Recruited by the DGSI, France’s domestic intelligence agency, Céline is drawn into an undercover operation that quickly spirals out of control. With no training or backup, she must navigate the criminal underworld she knows from the inside and help intelligence agent Clément Meyer dismantle a terrorist network before it can carry out an attack in Paris.
The ensemble cast also includes Jérémie Laheurte (“Paris Police 1900,” “Blue Is the Warmest Colour”), Sabrina Ouazani (“The Hook Up Plan”), David Kammenos (“The New Look”) and Marin Judas (“Titane”).
“What fascinated me was the contrast between glamour and danger. The same city that promises freedom can become a trap in a matter of seconds,” said Eveno. “I wanted the camera to stay as close as possible to Céline, so the audience experiences the world of espionage through the eyes of someone who was never meant to be part of it.”
“Sleepless Nights” is produced by Quentin de Revel and Younes Nemiche for SND Fictions, the new scripted TV production arm of SND, which is part of French commercial broadcasting group M6.
“’Sleepless Nights’ is exactly the kind of high-concept thriller international buyers are looking for today: a fresh arena and a universal story, wrapped in the glamour of Paris,” said Alexis Reybet-Degat, head of international TV series sales at SND. “It brings together the procedural tension of the best spy dramas and the raw, nocturnal energy of contemporary cinema.”
De Revel, head of drama at SND Fictions, said the series also reflects the company’s ambitions as it builds up its scripted television business.
“This series embodies the eclecticism and creative ambition that characterizes SND Fictions’ approach to selecting projects. Still, it would never have come to life without NBC’s demanding and unwavering support throughout the project’s development,” said de Revel.
