Walk Like a Duck Entertainment has acquired the life rights to the story of John Fairfax, an adventurer who crossed both the Atlantic and the Pacific in a rowboat.
The company plans to make a film about Fairfax and believes his extraordinary exploits have the making of gripping cinema. Fairfax crossed the Atlantic, becoming the first solo oarsman in recorded history to cross any ocean, and reached the shores of Hollywood, Fla., the day before Apollo 11 landed on the moon. His crossing was seen as so momentous that the astronauts sent back a message to Earth offering him their congratulations. “We who sail what President Kennedy once called ‘The new ocean of space’ are pleased to pay our respects to the man who, single handedly, has conquered the still formidable ocean of water,” astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin A. Aldrin Jr. wrote at the time.
Fairfax died in 2012 at the age of 74. Over the course of his colorful life, he apprenticed to a pirate, managed a mink farm, and later made his living playing baccarat, at least according to a New York Times obituary.
The producers on the project are Rob Goodrich and Jason Armstrong of Walk Like a Duck Entertainment. Tiffany Fairfax, the widow of John Fairfax, will serves as executive producer.
“John Fairfax was the real-deal and we are honored with the opportunity to help bring his remarkable journey through life to screen with the support of his devoted love, Tiffany Fairfax,” Walk Like a Duck Entertainment said in a statement. “While we’ve all become overly-connected to technology, special media and new forms of peer pressures, John Fairfax fought one battle: John vs the world, regardless of fanfare or perception. Tiffany has been a steadfast gatekeeper of John’s legacy and we look forward to quickly putting focus on packaging this project.”
“John Fairfax is the love of my life,” Tiffany Fairfax said. “He is my hero, my soulmate and my king. Since meeting with Rob, Jason and the Walk Like a Duck Entertainment team, I am certain that the king’s adventurous, brilliant, loving, superhero lifestyle will be achieved on-screen. No one else can replicate the integrity I experience with Rob and Jay. John lived a million lives in the span of one and I’m so excited for the world to see this man exactly as he was and I’m confident Walk Like a Duck is the perfect company to achieve this.”