Firebite: Yael Stone of Orange Is the New Black stars in vampire series

Yael Stone, who did great work playing the character Lorna Morello on the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, has been announced as a cast member in the AMC+ series Firebite, which is now filming in Australia. Stone is joined in the cast by Rob Collins (Extraction), Callan Mulvey (Avengers: Endgame), and newcomer Shantae Barnes-Cowan.

Coming to us from AMC Studios and See-Saw Films, Firebite is described as being a “high-octane, highly original spin on the vampire genre and fantasy series”. The story centers on

two Indigenous Australian hunters, Tyson (Collins) and Shanika (Barnes-Cowan), on their quest to battle the last colony of vampires in the middle of the South Australian desert.

The series is set in

a remote desert mining town, a hive for the last vampire stronghold shipped from Britain to Australia in 1788 by the colonial superpower to eradicate the Indigenous populations. Sheltering from the sun in the underground mines and tunnels that surround the town until the present day, the colony’s numbers and hunger is growing. War is coming. Tyson and Shanika stand vanguard to the war. But what hope does an expertly reckless man full of bravado and a 17-year-old orphan possibly have to defeat these vicious blood-thirsty parasites, when legions of warriors before them have failed?

The series was created by Warwick Thornton (Sweet Country), who is directing episodes of the show, along with Brendan Fletcher (Mad Bastards) and Tony Krawitz (Dead Europe).

Thornton and Fletcher released the following statement:

Our only rule was to find great people, no matter where they came from. We have actors who’ve worked on big Hollywood blockbusters, and others that are flying in from remote Aboriginal communities who light up the screen with natural presence. To us, they are all movie stars.”

Executive producer Rachel Gardner added,

We love our cast. They bring these characters to life with authenticity, power and a solid dose of naughty. It feels like this is going to be something special.”

Gardner’s fellow executive producers include Thornton, Fletcher, and Emile Sherman and Iain Canning of See-Saw Films. Simon Gillis and Kodie Bedford are co-executive producers, with Libby Sharpe and Dena Curtis co-producing and Billy Bowring serving as association producer. Paul Ranford is producing. Kristin Jones is overseeing the series for AMC Networks. Firebite is receiving major funding from the South Australian Film Corporation.

Kodie Bedford, Devi Telfer, and Josh Sambono are among the writers. The first season of Firebite will consist of eight one-hour episodes.