Neil LaBute to Serve as Showrunner for Syfy's New VAN HELSING Series

According to The Hollywood Reporter, writer Neil LaBute will serve as showrunner for a new Syfy series which will center on a female counterpart to the classic gothic horror character Van Helsing.

Van Helsing was originally introduced as Professor Abraham van Helsing in the 1897 gothic horror novel Dracula. The character is described as "a vampire hunter, monster hunter and arch nemesis of Count Dracula."

The upcoming series will feature Vanessa Helsing, "the next in a lineage of warriors who must lead mankind against a world controlled by vampires. When Vanessa is resurrected five years in the future, she learns vampires have taken over the world and that she possesses unique power over them. She is essentially humanity's last hope to lead an offensive to take back what has been lost."

In a statement,, LeBute, who will also serve as executive producer, commented, "I am extremely excited to be working with Syfy and Nomadic Pictures to create a unique, character-driven action series that will move the traditional vampire tropes into bold and unexpected new territories" LaBute said in a statement. "This is a wonderful chance for us to forge great stories and unforgettable characters and throw them into a world where the stakes - both dramatic and personal - are tremendously high."

Production on the 13-episode first season is scheduled to get underway in January in Vancouver. The series will debut in the fall of 2016.

LaBute received his Master of Fine Arts degree in dramatic writing from New York University and was the recipient of a literary fellowship to study at the Royal Court Theatre, London, and also attended the Sundance Institute's Playwrights Lab.

His films include In the Company of Men; Nurse Betty; Your Friends and Neighbors; Possession; The Shape of Things (a film adaptation of his play by the same title); The Wicker Man; Lakeview Terrace; Death at a Funeral; Some Velvet Morning and the upcoming Dirty Weekend.

LaBute's plays include Filthy Talk for Troubled Times; bash: latter-day plays; The Shape of Things; The Mercy Seat; The Distance from Here; Autobahn; Fat Pig; Some Girl(s); This Is How It Goes; In A Dark Dark House; Wrecks; Reasons to be Pretty; The Break of Noon; In a Forest, Dark and Deep, Lovely Head; Reasons to be Happy; Things We Said Today (a recent collection of short plays and monologues) and the upcoming The Money Shot (MCC) and The Way We Get By (Second Stage).

LaBute has also adapted Dracula, Woyzeck, Miss Julie and Antigone for the stage. Seconds of Pleasure, a collection of his short fiction, was published by Grove Atlantic.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos

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