Lifetime Announces Four New All Original Movies From Author Nora Roberts  10/27/08

Lifetime Television Re-Teams With Mandalay Television, Stephanie Germain Productions and Best-Selling Author Nora Roberts to Produce Four All-New Original Movies

"NORA ROBERTS' HIGH NOON," STARRING EMILIE DE RAVIN ("LOST"), IVAN SERGEI ("JACK AND JILL") AND GOLDEN GLOBE(R) WINNER CYBILL SHEPHERD ("THE L WORD") KICKS OFF QUARTET TO PREMIERE IN 2009

Additional Adaptations Include "Nora Roberts' Midnight Bayou," "Nora Roberts' Tribute" and "Nora Roberts' Northern Lights"

#1 New York Times Best-Selling Author, Roberts Has Over 300 Million Books in Print

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Lifetime is joining forces once again with Mandalay Television and Stephanie Germain Productions to produce four new Lifetime Original Movies based on Nora Roberts' books to premiere in 2009. The order follows the success of the four previous Nora Roberts' movies that aired on Lifetime Television in 2007 that reached over 34 million viewers. "Nora Roberts' High Noon," starring Emilie de Ravin ("Lost," "Roswell"), Ivan Sergei ("Jack and Jill," "Crossing Jordan") and Golden Globe(R) winner Cybill Shepherd ("The L Word," "Moonlighting") is the first of the 2009 Nora Roberts' movies to begin production. The other three films will include "Nora Roberts' Midnight Bayou," "Nora Roberts' Tribute" and "Nora Roberts' Northern Lights." Peter Guber and Stephanie Germain serve as executive producers.

In making the announcement, Tanya Lopez, Senior Vice President, Original Movies, Lifetime Networks, said, "Our loyal viewers are devoted Nora Roberts fans, as evidenced by the great ratings and popularity of our movies last year. I'm thrilled to be re-teaming with Nora, Peter and Stephanie for four more enticing films."

In "Nora Roberts' High Noon," expert hostage negotiator Lieutenant Phoebe McNamara (de Ravin) juggles her high pressure career with the demands of raising her young daughter and contending with her agoraphobic mother, Essie (Shepherd). When Phoebe meets handsome bar owner Duncan Swift (Sergei), he can't resist her take-charge attitude and attempts to earn her affections. Though she tries to resists his charms, Phoebe soon realizes no amount of negotiation will keep Duncan at arm's length. When Phoebe is assaulted by an unknown assailant in her precinct, she can't help but be deeply shaken. She later receives a series of mysterious and threatening messages and soon discovers she is the target of a psychopathic killer out to destroy her personally and professionally.

Best known for her role as Clare Littleton on the hit ABC series, "Lost," Emilie de Ravin first garnered the attention of international audiences with her performance on the popular television series "Beastmaster: The Legend Continues." Within one month of moving to Los Angeles from her home in Australia, she landed the role of Tess Harding in The WB's "Roswell" and had a recurring role on the CBS series, "The Handler." Soon after, she starred in the television remake of Stephen King's classic horror film, "Carrie." De Ravin's recent film credits include the indie film "Brick," "The Hills Have Eyes," "The Perfect Game" and "Ball Don't Lie."

Ivan Sergei made a name for himself in the independent film world with a star-making performance in "The Opposite of Sex" with Christina Ricci. He went on to star in "The Big Day," "Scorched," "Dangerous Minds," "We Met on the Vineyard," "Playing Mona Lisa" and "Gunfighter's Moon." Most recently, he appeared in "The Break Up" with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. For television, Sergei will soon be seen guest-starring in the season finale of Lifetime's hit series, "Army Wives." He starred in the telefilms "Santa Baby" with Jenny McCarthy; "10.5"; "Mother May I Sleep with Danger"; and "If Someone Had Known." Sergei is also well known for his series lead role in The WB's "Jack and Jill," opposite Amanda Peet. Additionally, Sergei guest-starred in "Crossing Jordan," "Hawaii," "Charmed," "Touched by An Angel," "Cybill," "Party of Five" and "Kindred: the Embraced."

Four-time Golden Globe(R) winner Cybill Shepherd has dazzled audiences on screen and stage for over two decades. Currently, she stars in the provocative Showtime series, "The L Word," but is most recognized for her role in the comedy, "Moonlighting" opposite Bruce Willis, and for her CBS sitcom "Cybill." Shepherd's additional television credits include the NBC telefilm "Martha Stewart, Inc.," the series "Yellow Rose," "Eight Simple Rules," "I'm With Her," "Journey of the Heart," "While Justice Sleeps," "Baby Brokers," "There Was a Little Boy" and "Stormy Weathers," which she also executive produced. She also starred in "Which Way Home" for TNT, the mini-series "The Long Hot Summer" and "Telling Secrets." Additionally, Shepherd executive produced, co-wrote and starred in "Memphis," based on Shelby Foote's novel September, September.

Shepherd made her film debut in "The Last Picture Show" and went on to star in "The Heartbreak Kid," "Taxi Driver," "Daisy Miller," "Alice," "Married To It," "Once Upon a Crime," "Texasville" and "Chances Are." Shepherd can soon be seen in the thriller, "The Detective" and "Marine Life." On stage, Shepherd recently sold out a two-week run of her one woman show, "Cybill Disobedience...With Music" at the Soho Theatre in London. She also had starring roles in theater productions of "Shot in the Dark," "The Seven Year Itch," "Last of the Red Hot Lovers," "Lunch Hour," "Vanities" and "Picnic."

The Nora Roberts adaptations join an impressive list of novels developed into Lifetime Original Movies, including the top rated basic cable movie for 2008, Kim Edwards' "The Memory Keeper's Daughter," starring Dermot Mulroney, Emily Watson and Gretchen Mol, and Jodi Picoult's "The Tenth Circle" starring Kelly Preston, Ron Eldard and Brittany Robertson.

Since publishing her first novel in 1981, Roberts has gone on to become a #1 New York Times best-selling sensation. With more than 300 million books in print, Roberts' novels have spent a combined 138 weeks at the #1 spot on the coveted Times list. Since 1999, every book published under her name has hit the New York Times best seller list. Amazon.com recently reported that Roberts is their third most popular author - following only to Tom Clancy and J.K. Rowling. Roberts is a member of several writers groups and has won countless awards from her colleagues and the publishing industry. Nora Roberts is represented by literary agent Amy Berkower at Writers House, LLC and by CAA. Nora Roberts' books are published by Penguin Group (US).

"Nora Roberts' High Noon" is produced by Mandalay Television and Stephanie Germain Productions for Lifetime Television. Peter Guber ("Rainman," "Batman," "The Color Purple," "The Jacket"), Stephanie Germain (Lifetime's "Gracie's Choice," "The Day After Tomorrow") and Peter Strauss ("The Jacket") are the executive producers. Salli Newman ("Nora Roberts' Carolina Moon") will produce and Jordy Randall ("Nora Roberts Blue Smoke"), Tom Cox ("Nora Roberts' Montana Sky") and Murray Ord ("Nora Roberts' Carolina Moon") are co-producers. Terri Kopp ("Law & Order") wrote the teleplay and Peter Markle (Lifetime's "The Tenth Circle") directs.

In addition to the first four Nora Roberts Lifetime Original Movies, through her production company, Stephanie Germain produced TNT's Johnson & Johnson presentation of Richard Paul Evan's bestseller, "A Perfect Day," starring Rob Lowe; and Lifetime's "Gracie's Choice," starring Kristin Bell, Diane Ladd and Anne Heche, who received an Emmy(R) nomination for her performance. "Gracie's Choice" premiered in January 2004 and became one of cable's highest rated films. Some additional credits include: the highest rated television movie of its season, CBS' "The Pilot's Wife," based on Anita Shreve's bestseller and starring Emmy(R) and Oscar(R) award winner Christine Lahti; the ABC special effects extravaganza "Superfire," created by best-selling authors Richard Preston and Doug Preston; ABC's "King of the World: The Muhammad Ali Story," based upon the book by Pulitzer Prize winner David Remnick and starring Terrence Howard; ABC's "Holiday In Your Heart," starring LeAnn Rimes and Bernadette Peters; CBS' miniseries "The Doris Duke Story," starring Lauren Bacall and Richard Chamberlain; and the TBS premiere movie "Fatal Error," starring Janine Turner. Germain co-produced Showtime's one hour series, "Jeremiah," starring Luke Perry, for two seasons. She was also an executive producer on the blockbuster "The Day After Tomorrow," starring Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal, and directed by Roland Emmerich ("Independence Day").

Mandalay Television has achieved great success in series, long form television movies and miniseries. Mandalay's critically acclaimed, Peabody Award-winning series "Brotherhood" is entering its third season on Showtime. Mandalay movies and miniseries have produced some of the strongest ratings of all-time, including Dean Koontz's "Intensity," a four-hour miniseries based on the best seller by Dean Koontz - the highest rated miniseries ever on FOX Broadcasting; "First Daughter," a two-hour original movie starring Mariel Hemingway for TBS, which was the highest rated basic cable movie in history and spawned two sequels, "First Target" and "First Shot"; "Blood Crime," which launched USA's Crime Friday and was the highest rated original program for the network in 2002; and "The Linda McCartney Story" for CBS. Mandalay Television has recently completed production on "RPM," a ground breaking microseries for TNT starring Johnathon Schaech.

Lifetime is the leader in women's television and one of the top-rated basic cable television networks. A diverse, multi-media company, Lifetime is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families. Lifetime Television, Lifetime Movie Network, Lifetime Real Women and Lifetime Digital (including myLifetime.com) are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, a 50/50 joint venture of Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company.

SOURCE Lifetime Networks