Mr Leimbach was on the border last week to scout shooting locations for an eight episode series that he estimates will cost approximately $10 million to create.
The producer made his way to Corowa on Wednesday as he widens his search for a fruit packing shed, old pubs, a stately home and an old cop shop which he thinks is something the Corowa Township might be able to provide.
“We’re looking for places that still have remnants of the 60’s and 70’s. Corowa is the kind of clean place that retains that heritage feel and still looks like it could exist in that period,” he told The Free Press.
“It’s also necessary or us to find somewhere nearby that still has a flourishing orchard industry. So we’ve been looking into the orchard farms in Stanley and Cobram.”
The series will be an adaption of the book Red Hot by Howlong writer Leonie Alldis which was published five years ago.
The book is based on a true story of a firebug that tormented the Hamilton Valley, who went on to light more than 300 fires between 1965 and 1968 with an almost supernatural ability to bring forth an inferno without leaving a trace.
Farmers lost sheds, cars and tractors and the elderly were concerned that they would burn in their beds, as this ambiguous person had an entire valley gripped with fear.
The story first came to the attention of Mr Leimbach after Leonie sent it to his company, Lucky Country Productions, over a year ago.
“I don’t normally get into self-published books but this particular one caught my attention when it was sent to me,” he said.
“The title ‘red hot’ along with the fiery cover struck me immediately and kind of burnt a whole in my desk.
“Within those 630 pages was a really nice story which I thought would make a great series on screen, it’s a rip roaring murder mystery.”
Lucky Country productions has optioned the book and brought on board Rachel Ward to direct the series which Bill hopes to start shooting in spring 2020.
Leimbachs body of work has primarily been feature films - most notably Beneath Hill 60, which is a $10 million war film he produced in Townsville.
Bill has transitioned into television over the past three years and plans to launch this series on prominent streaming services such as Netflix and Stan.
Ms Alldis will remain on board with the screen adaption to assist with the writing process to ensure the authenticity of the story.
Leonie was 9-years-old, living in the Hamilton Valley when the firebug began his perpetual spree.
“My mum and I would watch from the back porch as the night sky was lit up by fire’s breaking out in the valley while all the blokes scrambled to go fight them,” she told The Free Press.
“It wasn’t just one fire a night, sometimes it would be four.
“The firebug burnt our entire dairy and a shed with all my parents’ things in it. We lost everything.”
The mystery of ‘who done it’ always ate away at Leonie and she finally decided to write Red Hot to bring the story back out into the open.
The story still remains shrouded in ambiguity as no one has ever been found responsible for the fires, but Leonie is adamant that secrets are still being kept and the perpetrator is still alive, hidden in plain sight.
“I thought it was a story that needed to be brought back out into the open, because it seemed that everyone had forgotten about one of the region’s biggest mysteries.
“It’s so unique, I’ve never heard of a community brought to its knees like that from a firebug.
“The person responsible must have been so visible that they were invisible – hidden in plain sight,” she said.
Lucky Country Productions is currently engaged in discussions with Screen Australia to contribute funding and the company is also seeking interest from local investors in the region.
