HBO to shoot TV pilot in New Orleans

LOS ANGELES, July 10 (UPI) -- HBO is developing a new television drama to be set in the music community of post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans.

Named "Treme" after the neighborhood where many musicians live, it could bring some much-needed money and attention to the city if HBO likes the pilot and decides to make it into a series, The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported Thursday.

David Simon, the longtime New Orleans music fan who created the critically acclaimed HBO series "The Wire," is the creative force behind "Treme."

He told the newspaper HBO has committed to shooting the first episode of the new series, and may do so later this year.

"It's basically a post-Katrina history of the city. It will be rooted in events that everybody knows," Simon told the Times-Picayune. "What it's not going to be is a happy stroll through David Simon's record collection. It should not be a tourism slide show. If we do it right, it (will be) about why New Orleans matters."