Prime Video‘s Bosch spinoff Ballard starring Maggie Q already has made a strong case for a Season 2 renewal with positive reviews and solid ratings performance. The Los Angeles-based series’ prospects just got brighter with the potential second season awarded a $14.84M tax credit by the California Film Commission, making a pickup very likely.
TV studios typically submit for tax incentives projects — series and pilots — that they believe in which either have already received a pickup or are earmarked for one.
Add to that the fact that Ballard has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and generated 2.5B minutes viewed in the U.S. from its July 9 binge release through the end of the month, charting on Nielsen’s weekly Top 10 for streaming originals — most recently at #4 with 619M minutes for the week of July 21 — and a renewal appears pretty much a lock.
Inspired by the work of bestselling author Michael Connelly, Ballard follows Detective Renée Ballard (Q) as she leads the LAPD’s new and underfunded cold case division, tackling the city’s most challenging long-forgotten crimes. As she peels back layers of crimes spanning decades, including a serial killer’s string of murders and a murdered John Doe, she soon uncovers a dangerous conspiracy within the LAPD. With the help of her volunteer team and retired detective Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver), Detective Ballard navigates personal trauma, professional challenges, and life-threatening dangers to expose the truth.
The Amazon MGM Studios series unitizes many Los Angeles area locations, including Venice Beach, the Paradise Cove trailer park in Malibu, Union Station and Los Angeles City Hall — all featured in Season 1.
Ballard is executive produced by Michael Connelly, Henrik Bastin, Michael Alaimo, Kendall Sherwood, Trish Hofmann, Jet Wilkinson, and Melissa Aouate. Jasmine Russ serves as co-executive producer under Fabel Entertainment. Jamie Boscardin Martin and Trey Batchelor also serve as co-executive producers. Theresa Snider serves as co-executive producer for Hieronymus Pictures.
