Great Point Media and The Development Partnership, the development and production arm of Robert Taylor’s talent agency the Artists Partnership, are joining forces to develop, package, and co-produce multiple films, kicking off with three projects, including “Chasing Agent Freegard,” starring James Norton (“War & Peace”).
“Chasing Agent Freegard,” which is being produced by “Captain Phillips” co-producer Michael Bronner, is based on the gripping true story of Robert Hendy-Freegard, a con man who masqueraded as an MI5 agent and fooled several people into going underground for fear of assassination by the IRA. Norton, who stars in upcoming Berlin competition title “Mr. Jones” by Agnieszka Holland and will be seen next in Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of “Little Women,” will executive produce “Chasing Agent Freegard” through his recently launched banner, Rabbit Track Pictures.
The other two projects to be developed under the agreement are “Let It Go” and “Rose.” Produced by Damian Jones (“The Iron Lady”), “Let it Go” will be written by Robyn Charteris, based on the memoir of Stephanie Shirley, a former child refugee, trailblazing entrepreneur, driven philanthropist and computing pioneer whose tech business is said to be worth more than £2.6 billion.
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“What a wonderful moment to tell this story of a child refugee who became a multimillionaire,” said Jones, adding that Shirley’s work ethic, moral compass and ethos of giving back fly in the face of the entitlement-ridden times we’re living in.
“Rose” is a dark, Gothic exploration of one couple’s relationship that explores the pressures of dependency, illness, guilt, loneliness and love. “Rose” was written by first-time feature writer Matt Stokoe, and is set to be directed by first-time director Jennifer Sheridan. The film will star Stokoe (“Jamestown”) and Sophie Rundle (“Peaky Blinders”) as a couple struggling to survive. “Rose” is being produced by Bone Garden, Mini Productions, and TDP.
The deal underscores Great Point Media’s goal to build a solid slate of original productions for which they also handle sales, manage funds and produce from script stage to the release.
“This collaboration represents an exciting and decisive move forward in our strategy to build projects from root to branch with trusted partners, and follows three years of great work with the team at TDP, developing projects with and for their clients,” said Jim Reeve, co-founder of Great Point Media.
Taylor, from The Development Partnership, said the company’s “partnership with Great Point goes from strength to strength, and Jim and his team have been the perfect collaborators as we have built this film slate.”
Nada Cirjanic, the head of sales for Great Point Media, will represent all three films in international markets and will introduce them to buyers at markets this year.
Great Point’s sales team will be in Sundance with Shola Amoo’s “The Last Tree,” which will open the World Dramatic Competition section.