Star Zoe Saldana produces the miniseries with her two sisters, Cisely and Mariel.
The miniseries was initially supposed to be directed by Roman Polanski. Lionsgate reached out to him directly when the creative decision was made by Maurer to set in in Paris and using Maurer and Abbott's detailed story treatment, Lionsgate Television executives flew to Paris to meet with Polanski to discuss but in the end his scheduling did not allow him to proceed and Agnieszka Holland was hired to direct.
Originally, Executive Producer Joshua D. Maurer hired writer Scott Abbott to co-write the screenplay with him after previously working closely with him on HBO's Emmy Award winning movie "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge" as well as a prior hire to adapt a miniseries for CBS based on Stephen E. Ambrose's book "D-Day" based on Maurer's original story outline. Maurer had previously co-written the miniseries adaptation of "Papillon" with Timothy Prager, whose rights he had acquired and sold to Lionsgate and NBC as a four hour miniseries with Bruce Beresford attached to direct and John Woo and Terence Chang to Executive Produce. Maurer then worked closely with Abbott in developing a detailed four hour story outline set in Paris as a contemporary reinterpretation of the classic novel. Maurer's writing contributions however were not credited.
Executive Producers Joshua D. Maurer, Alixandre Witlin and David Stern originally acquired the literary rights upon which the miniseries is based. But their collective window was very small and mandated by a complicated IP ownership window that lapsed at Paramount which allowed them only 12 months from purchase to acquire, develop, produce and then air the film all within one year.