Writer-director Martyn Burke (Pirates of Silicon Valley) is developing a period drama series project at HBO entitled Reds, about Russia/Soviet Union spies living seemingly normal lives in the U.S. while sending secret information to Moscow.

Set in 1980s, the project is based on real-life events from Martyn Burke's early film career. In the 80s, he was traveling the U.S. with a camera crew while making a documentary. However, unbeknownst to him, the sound man on the crew was in reality a colonel in the Soviet KGB. The Soviet spy later set up his base of operations outside New York City while attempting to raise a family as an ordinary American citizen but was eventually caught.