AMC orders two new drama pilots

U.S. cable network AMC says it has placed pilot orders for the scripted dramas "Halt & Catch Fire" and "Turn." Production on both is scheduled to begin in 2013. Set in the early 1980s, "Halt & Catch Fire" dramatizes the personal computing boom through the eyes of a visionary, an engineer and a prodigy whose innovations directly confront the corporate behemoths of the time, a synopsis said. Based on the book "Washington's Spies," written by Alexander Rose, "Turn" is set in the summer of 1778 and tells the story of New York farmer Abe Woodhull, who bands together with a group of childhood friends to form The Culper Ring, an unlikely group of spies who turn the tide in America's fight for independence, AMC said. The announcement regarding the shows comes on the heels of the network's last round of pilot orders for "Low Winter Sun" and the "Untitled LaGravenese/Tony Goldwyn project," both of which recently completed production. "These additional pilot orders demonstrate AMC's investment in our original scripted programming," Susie Fitzgerald, AMC's senior vice president of scripted development and current programming. "Both of these projects take the audience into unique worlds through compelling characters told with an original voice. We are so fortunate to be working with such exceptional talent on both of these projects."