James R | On 16, Sep 2015

Netflix has bought the streaming rights to Australian series Small Time Gangster.

The show, made in Melbourne, follows Tony Piccolo, a family man who cleans carpets by day – and, by night, is the toughest enforcer in the city’s criminal underbelly.

The series was created by Gareth Calverley and Joss King and directed by Jeffrey Walker, with Peter Jenetsky, Tony Forrest, and Ewan Burnett as executive producers. It starred Steve Le Marquand, Gia Carides, Sacha Horler, Geoff Morrell and Gary Sweet.

It premiered in Australia back in 2011/12, when it generated “record audiences” for The Movie Network, reports Oz trade publication If. After picking up Best Original Mini-Series at the Australian Writers’ Guild Awards, it was then broadcast on SBS Australia in 2013/14, before being remade by HBO Europe.

“We’re delighted that some of the 63 million people who subscribe to Netflix the world over will now have the opportunity to see the show,” Calverley told If.

Calverley’s co-producer, Andrew McInally, added: “It’s a testament to the quality of Small Time Gangster that a few years down the road it has been acquired by Netflix worldwide and successfully remade as ‘Umbre’ by HBO Europe.”

Netflix has bought the rights for streaming the series in Australia, the UK and New Zealand, with more territories “to be announced shortly”.

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