Netflix Gets Its Skates On With British YA Drama ‘Zero Chill’ From ‘Free Rein’ Producer Lime Pictures

Click here to read the full article.

EXCLUSIVE: The team behind Netflix’s YA horse drama Free Rein is saddling up for another scripted teen series for the streamer.

The SVOD service has commissioned Zero Chill from All3Media-backed Lime Pictures.

More from Deadline

• Netflix Lays Off About 15 In Marketing Division

• 'In From The Cold' Spy Drama Series Starring Margarita Levieva Greenlighted By Netflix

• Production & Management Firm 42 Re-Ups Netflix Deal, Plots Boris Pasternak Pic & Grows LA Team Following Sundance Launch Of 'Ironbark'

The ten-part series follows 15-year old figure skater Kayla, whose life is up-ended from Canada to the UK when her twin brother Mac gets a place at a legendary hockey academy. Distraught at her parents’ decision to put her brother’s ambitions before her own, Kayla must find her place on the ice again in the shadow of her superstar brother.

Zero Chill was created by Doc Martin and Free Rein writers Kirstie Falkous and John Regier and the writers’ room is overseen by Ackley Bridge writer Adam Usden. Angelo Abela (Free Rein) and Tim Compton (The Evermoor Chronicles), who run Lime Pictures’ kids division, exec produce.

It stars newcomers Grace Beedie, who also has a small role in Freeform’s forthcoming drama Motherland: Fort Salem, and Dakota Benjamin Taylor as Kayla and Mac respectively. Sarah Jane Potts (Gracepoint), Doug Rao (NCIS:Los Angeles) Jade Ma (Black Widow), Oscar Skagerberg (The Last Kingdom), Stanislaus Steinbichler (Vienna Blood) and Christina Tam (Transformers:The Last Knight) also star.

Production has started in Sheffield, UK, largely taking place at the city’s ice rink, which has been turned into the fictional Hammerstrom Ice Hockey Academy. Deadline understands that the show features a fully skating cast, with a fluid camera style giving the audience the feel of actually being on the ice with the characters. The show is expected to air on Netflix later this year.

It is the latest digital order for Lime Pictures, which also produces Disney’s The Evermoor Chronicles, MTV’s Geordie Shore and ITV reality series The Only Way Is Essex. The company’s Free Rein has run for three seasons on Netflix; the show, which stars Jaylen Barron, Freddy Carter and Manpreet Bambra, follows a 15-year-old girl from LA who spends the summer at her mom’s childhood home on an island off the coast of the UK, where she bonds with a mysterious horse.

Compton said, “The twin worlds of hockey and figure skating are rich with story. And there’s so much talent out there; we’ve found a truly international cast of young actors who are genuinely skilled on the ice. This, combined with fresh and exciting writing talent, will make Zero Chill something really special for the kids and family audience.”

Best of Deadline

• Peacock Programming: List Of NBCUniversal Streaming Service’s Series, Films, Sports, News & More

• Stan Lee's Legacy: Ranking The Hollywood Heroes Co-Created By The Marvel Comics Icon

• Disney-Fox Deal: How It Ranks Among Biggest All-Time Media Mergers

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.