"Graves" Returns to Film Second Season in New Mexico
New Mexico Film Office Director Nick Maniatis announced today that the television series "Graves," a single-camera, half-hour political satire produced by Lionsgate for premium TV network EPIX®, will return to film its 10-episode second season in Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Bernalillo and Santa Fe, starting this week through July.
Starring three-time Academy Award® nominee and Golden Globe® winner Nick Nolte ("A Walk in the Woods," "The Thin Red Line"), Golden Globe® and two-time Emmy® Award-winning actress Sela Ward ("Gone Girl," "Sisters"), Skylar Astin ("Pitch Perfect"), Heléne Yorke ("Masters of Sex"), Chris Lowell ("The Help") and Callie Hernandez ("Alien: Covenant"), the production will employ at least 200 New Mexico crew members and approximately 2,500 local background talent.
After a year of highly public protests against his Presidential legacy, Season 2 finds former President Richard Graves turning inward in search of the man he used to be before he was President. This journey is compounded by the arrival of his first grandchild, thanks to daughter Olivia (Heléne Yorke) and a new revelation about his son, Jeremy (Chris Lowell). Graves's journey coincides with his wife Margaret's (Sela Ward) Senate campaign, as the former First Lady attempts to build her own political legacy at the exact moment that her husband is tearing his down; and his assistant, Isaiah Miller's (Skylar Astin) search for new direction after taking a bullet for the President in the Season 1 finale.
"Getting to season two is never easy - and when you get renewed, your chances of continuing for multiple seasons increase exponentially," said New Mexico Film Office Director Nick Maniatis. "We like that...more seasons, more jobs, longer term economic impact."
"I welcome and am always excited about the economic benefits film and television bring to Rio Rancho and New Mexico and I very much look forward to having 'Graves' back in our wonderful city," said Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull.
"We're very happy that 'Graves' has been 're-elected' to a second season, and we welcome them back to the Santa Fe area -- where we appreciate shows about politics," said Santa Fe County Manager Katherine Miller.
Produced by Lionsgate in association with Kingsgate Films, Josh Michael Stern ("Swing Vote," "Jobs") is the creator/showrunner, Academy Award® winner Greg Shapiro ("The Hurt Locker," "Zero Dark Thirty") and Rebecca Kirshner ("90210," "Gilmore Girls") are executive producers, Abby Gewanter ("Pushing Daisies") is supervising producer, and Emmy® Award-winning Bill Hill ("Veep," "Eastbound & Down") and Jack Moore ("Dear White People," "Crowded") are producers.
In this EPIX Original Series, President Richard Graves (Nick Nolte), a former two-term POTUS, embarks on a Don Quixote-like quest to right the wrongs of his administration and reclaim his legacy 25 years after leaving the White House. With topics ranging from immigration to gay rights, to foreign policy to public funding for arts and sciences, Graves holds nothing sacred as he unspools some of his administration's proudest victories. His enlightenment takes place just as his wife Margaret Graves (Sela Ward) decides it's finally time for her to pursue her own political ambitions.