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UEG (Union Entertainment Group), whose feature films Hateship Loveship and The Brass Teapot premiered back to back at the last two Toronto Film Festivals, has entered the TV arena. Producer Noah C. Haeussner and UEG President Michael Raimondi have acquired the Television and Film rights to Ask Forgiveness, Not Permission: The True Story of an Operation in Pakistan’s Badlands, by Howard Leedham. A former British Special Operations Officer, Leedham was enlisted by the U.S. State Department to energize and lead a U.S.-sponsored security program on the Pakistan side of the Afghanistan border.

The book, published by Bene Factum Publishing Ltd., is the basis for the series, which chronicles Leedham’s experiences successfully winning the confidence of a small local force of specially recruited tribesmen soldiers known as the “Warrior Race” and then leading them on missions in the single most dangerous location in the world. At the same time, he juggles internal embassy and Washington DC politics and a meltdown in his home life. Leedham has been successfully retained as creative consultant, and the producers have commenced their recruitment process for a showrunner and writers. 

Haeussner, who is leading the development of the series, described Ask Forgiveness as “Syriana meets Lone Survivor. Howard's remarkable story plays out on a global scale with the combination of an American unit’s vision and commitment, British ingenuity, and exceptional valor. At the same time, it is a story of personal loss and sacrifice, to which all men and women who have had to make life-changing decisions will relate.”

The acquisition complements a healthy slate of film projects for UEG. As a follow up to Hateship Loveship and The Brass Teapot, the company is in pre-production on a soon-to-be-announced female driven psychological thriller and is in development on three films slated to go into production next year.