Showtime reports that Academy Award winning actors, creative collaborators, and boyhood friends Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are joining forces to create a Showtime project called "City On A Hill." The drama is based in early 1990's Boston Massachusetts. Boston is where both Damon and Affleck grew-up, formed their boyhood friendship into an adult friendship and a lucrative business relationship. Previous projects the Damon Affleck team created are "Project Greenlight" and their 1997 Academy Award winning film "Good Will Hunting."
The Boston Miracle
Set in the 1990's "City on a Hill" depicts a time when Boston was marred by crime.
Sources report that the project will fictionally highlight what has become to be known as The Boston Miracle. The Boston Miracle describes an event in Boston when after a concerted effort by several agencies including the Boston Gun Project, the United States Attorney, and the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services, gun violence and crime miraculously dropped. Based on the work of criminologist David M. Kennedy the project targeted youth gun violence and treated it as a significant problem.
Showtime has not divulged the names of cast members. Nonetheless, both Affleck and Damon are among the show's executive producers. Affleck was set to direct the show's premiere episode. However, Gavin McCloud the director of the "The Accountant" - a film starring Affleck - has taken over the role of director of the first episode.
There is no word as to what contributed to these fundamental changes.
Chuck MacLean is reported to have written a classic gritty pilot
Those close to the project report that Chuck MacLean has created an uncompressing script for the pilot. The story is full of familiar archetypal characters in gritty romantic Shakespearian situations.
Boston was steeped in a racial divide during 1990's, and the show takes on these themes and turns them into twisted plot lines that will mirror reality.
The 1990's were not a good time to live in Boston. The homicide rate ballooned to horrific proportions, and those who lived through the mayhem will be "City on a Hill's" focus.
So far, the rumors are that the show's creators are dedicated to aligning storylines with what happened. There appears to be a desire by those involved to pay tribute to the citizens who were instrumental in transforming Boston and thereby creating The Boston Miracle.
There is no set date as to when Showtime will premiere the series.
