Syfy (I laugh every time I write that) has ordered 13 episodes of the supernatural drama series HAVEN, based on the novella "The Colorado Kid," from Stephen King. HAVEN from E1 Entertainment will be the first property to be produced for Syfy Pay channels around the globe (excluding Canada and Scandinavia). The announcement was made today by Mark Stern, Executive Vice President, Original Content for Syfy and Co-Head, Original Content for Universal Cable productions, and E1 Entertainment's John Morayniss, CEO of E1's Television Group. Production is expected to begin in early 2010, for an anticipated air in 2010. International distribution is handled by E1 Entertainment.

"Haven is the quintessential Stephen King town, full of complex, yet identifiable, characters and compelling supernatural situations. Sam and Jim wrote a great pilot, and we can't wait to see Scott, Lloyd, and Shawn join them in bringing this town to life as a series. We also couldn't be more excited to partner with our international Syfy channels and be in business with E1 who will definitely deliver the high-quality production value we expect," Stern said in making the announcement.

"E1 has successfully orchestrated the first Syfy global partnership with Syfy in the U.S. and their international pay channels and we couldn't be more pleased," added John Morayniss. "What a combination: the Syfy brand, the pedigree of Stephen King and the global presence and reach of E1. With those ingredients, I predict a worldwide ratings hit for Haven. Syfy audiences and television viewers around the world will be enthralled with this exciting new series."

Syfy President Dave Howe commented, ""This is the first series to capitalize on the global power of the Syfy brand. This and more series like this in the future will be a potential game changer for Syfy's business, enabling us to commission and produce more and more high production value original content that can live on Syfy's growing network of channels around the globe."

Roma Khanna, President Universal Networks International added, "Haven, based on the novella The Colorado Kid by Stephen King, is the first major content partnership driven by our global Syfy business and is the first step in our plan to invest in more top quality content for Syfy Universal and our newly revitalized global channel portfolio. This world class project illustrates our commitment to deliver more high profile, first-run content which provides compelling entertainment for our viewers around the world."

Deep in the heart of Maine, Haven is a town where people with supernatural abilities have migrated for generations because it mutes their powers, allowing them to lead normal lives. At least, until recently. When hot-shot FBI agent Audrey Parker is called to Haven to solve the murder of a local ex-con, she catches the killer but uncovers a much deeper mystery about this town. Each week, as the town-peoples' dormant powers begin to express themselves, Audrey will try to keep these supernatural forces at bay while unraveling the many mysteries of Haven - including one surrounding her own surprising past in this extraordinary place.

The impressive creative team behind Haven includes Scott Shepherd (Tru Calling, The Dead Zone) serving as showrunner and is joined by his partners Executive Producers Lloyd Segan and Shawn Piller (The Dead Zone, Wildfire, Greek) and E1 Entertainment's John Morayniss (Hung, The Bridge) and Noreen Halpern (Hung, Copper). The pilot is written by Sam Ernst (Shrek the Third, The Dead Zone) and Jim Dunn (Shrek the Third, The Dead Zone) who will also serve as executive producers on the series. Adam Fratto will serve as co-executive producer.

Okay, two things: first, the series described above sounds NOTHING like the novella it's supposedly based on! But that's logical since, second, in the hands of any other writer "The Colorado kid" would have been a short story, not a novella. Definitely not enough material there for a weekly series, let alone a movie.