The world watched in awe (and some of us – ahem, me – even shed a tear, or ten) as 33 Chilean miners were rescued after being trapped in a mine for more than two months. And as promises of donations, book deals, and movie scripts swirl, Spike TV already has a head start on the bandwagon.
The network will announce a mining docuseries named “Coal”, chronicling the dangerous job of coal mining. The series comes from the producers of “Deadliest Catch” and is set in West Virginia.
But Spike execs insist that “Coal” has been in the works for the past year, and was not just a result of recent international headlines. Spike’s executive VP of original programming, Sharon Levy, tells the Hollywood Reporter, “It didn’t take a tragedy, and then a miracle, to get us excited about this. Obviously, we’re humongous fans of the kind of shows…that celebrate the everyday man.”
“Coal” will focus on Tom Roberts and Mike Crowder, co-owners of Cobalt Mine in Westchester, West Virginia. It will also involve the area’s 40+ employees, their families, and other community members.
Levy says the Chile incident only supported the idea that a closer look at the harsh realities of mining was long overdue. “We’ve tapped into something that people are passionate about; this is a topic the world is interested in. Everybody is afraid of being buried alive. These people risk their lives every day to make the world move, yet most of us never really think about how we get [our energy]…We finally get to tell their story.”
Spike TV had planned to announce the project weeks ago, but postponed the announcement until the miners could be freed.
The first 10 episodes of the one-hour series will premiere in April.
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