Courtesy of Melinda Sue Gordon for Netflix. “House of Cards” stars Kevin Spacey as a corrupt politician and Robin Wright (above) as his Lady Macbeth-like wife.

On Feb. 1, Netflix will debut its own original series, “House of Cards,” featuring some big names: Kevin Spacey, David Fincher, Joel Schumacher, Robin Wright.

But one of the biggest experiments in television also has a Southwest Virginia connection: Dana Brunetti.

Brunetti, who grew up in Covington, is an executive producer for the political drama. He’s also president of Spacey’s Los Angeles company, Trigger Street Productions.

The two had been “exploring” television projects, Brunetti said, when Fincher (“Fight Club,” “The Social Network”), asked if Spacey would be interested in working in television.

“It’s a medium that a lot of stars are becoming more attracted to because it’s a way to really build a character and a character arc, get a full range of a character as opposed to packing it all up in an hour and a half,” Brunetti said.

Dana Brunetti, who grew up in Covington, is an executive producer for Netflix’s original political drama, “House of Cards.”

He cited “The Walking Dead,” “Breaking Bad” and “A Game of Thrones” as shows continuing the revolution in television that began with “The Sopranos” and “The Wire.”

Spacey agrees.

“The best writers, the best actors, the best directors are working in television because it gives them a chance to explore things they couldn’t explore in film,” Spacey said in an interview last week.

It just so happened that Netflix was interested in exploring, too, and in 2011, ordered two seasons of “House of Cards” for a reported $100 million.

It will debut all 13 episodes of the first season on Feb. 1.

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