National Geographic Channel has given a six-episode order to the scripted/documentary hybrid series “Valley of the Boom,” a chronicle of the 1990s tech boom and bust cycle in Silicon Valley.
Matthew Carnahan (“House of Lies”) created the series and will serve as director and showrunner. He’ll executive producer with Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington. “Boom” hails from STX Entertainment’s STXtv banner.
“The provocative world of Silicon Valley has long dominated headlines and captured the public’s imagination,” said Carolyn Bernstein, exec VP and head of global scripted programming for Nat Geo. “We cannot wait to tell this timely, wildly unpredictable and captivating story of the early days of the dotcom boom and bust.”
The series will follow the part-scripted, part-documentary template set last year by Nat Geo’s ambitious drama series “Mars,” which is now in production on its second season.
“We wanted to make something as disruptive and exciting as the people and the tech that came out of the Valley during this period, so this is a wild, hybridized, rule-breaking look at a truly remarkable time and place,” Carnahan said.
Jason Goldberg, Brant Pinvidic, David Walpert, are also exec producers. David Newsom, co-executive producer, who will oversee the scripted unit of the production.
“Matthew has been a dream collaborator and the perfect creator for this project – blending his past in documentary filmmaking with expert TV series show running,” Jada Miranda, STXtv’s exec VP and head of scripted TV. “We’re thrilled to bring his innovative vision to National Geographic and give audiences a peek behind the curtain of one of the most fascinating periods in recent history.”
