Cinemax TV series set to shoot in Charlotte

More lights, more cameras, and more action are headed to Charlotte.

According to multiple online reports, Alan Ball -- creator of HBO's "True Blood" -- is getting another series, this time Cinemax. HBO's sister network has given a 10-episode order to "Banshee," an action drama executive-produced by Ball.

The series is said to center around an ex-convict and master thief who assumes the identity of the sheriff of Banshee, Pa., where he continues his criminal activities even as he's being hunted by the shadowy gangsters he had betrayed years earlier.

Both MovieWeb.com and Deadline Hollywood reported that "Banshee" will start shooting this spring on location in and around Charlotte, with an expected 2013 premiere date.

The news comes on the heels of two other major film and TV projects that were shot in the area. The Showtime original series "Homeland" was shot here last here, and the Emmy Award-nominated first season aired from October through December. And, more notably, "The Hunger Games" was filmed in and around Charlotte in 2011; the movie -- based on Suzanne Collins' best-selling young-adult novel -- is expected to be the first big blockbuster of the spring when it is released on March 23.