OLIVER STONE is set to direct his first episode of a scripted TV series, teaming up with Emmy winner Tom Fontana for a project called “Dolce Vita.”

The show will explore the underbelly of Rome in the 1950s. It is not connected to Federico Fellini’s classic film “La Dolce Vita” (1960), though it may cover some of the same glamorous territory.

The project is inspired by historian Stephen Gundle’s “Death and the Dolce Vita: The Dark Side of Rome” in the 1950s. The book reconstructs the death of 21-year-old Wilma Montesi in 1953 and the corruption and cracks in Italian society that belied the dolce vita image of post-World War II Italy.

Fontana will write the pilot, with Stone set to direct; both are executive producing. The pilot will be Stone’s first time helming a scripted series; he has directed and produced several documentaries for TV, most recently “The Putin Interviews” for Showtime.

Martha De Laurentiis, Marco Belardi, Lello Monteverde and Fontana’s producing partner Barry Levinson are also executive producers. The project has yet to be shopped to potential outlets; eOne is handling worldwide distribution.

(SD-Agencies)