Created by Anna Winger and Daniel Hendler, Transatlantic, set in 1940-1941 Marseille, is inspired by the true story of Varian Fry, Mary Jayne Gold and the Emergency Rescue Committee, and Julie Orringer’s 2019 novel, The Flight Portfolio. Risking their lives to help more than 2000 refugees escape occupied France, including many artists on the Nazis’ most-wanted list, an international gang of young superheroes and their famous charges occupy a villa at the edge of the city, where the threat of mortal danger gives way to unexpected collaborations and intense love affairs.
Smith plays a character inspired by Varian Fry. He’s a Harvard-educated American journalist who, foreseeing the horrific events of the Holocaust to come and appalled by the lack of American action, volunteers for a job no one wanted: Finding and saving the artists and intellectuals trapped in Europe.
Jacobs plays a character inspired by Mary Jayne Gold. An American heiress, she throws herself – and her trust fund – into Fry’s refugee rescue operation, excited to dedicate her considerable resources and energy to a worthy cause.
Stoll plays Patterson, the American Consul in Marseille who sees the refugees as an existential threat to American values.
Daniel Hendler is an American writer based in Vienna & Berlin. Recently he served as a writer/story editor on UNORTHODOX for Netflix, and as an episode writer for MAPA, a German-language “sadcom” on Joyn, both nominated at the German TV Prize 2020.