Newly minted Sports Illustrated Studios is launching its first feature film project with women’s rowing story “The Red Rose Crew: A True Story Of Women, Winning, and The Water.”
David Glasser’s 101 Studios will, produce, finance and distribute the film adaptation of Daniel J. Boyne’s biography, centered on the formation of a U.S. rowing team to compete at the 1975 world championships. The team included soft-spoken MIT professor Gail Pearson, lead rower Carie Graves and teenage coxswain Lynn Stillman under the guidance of legendary Harvard men’s crew coach Harry Parker.
“The Red Rose Crew” will be executive produced by Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Lindsay Williams from Gotham Group and Alexis Ostrander and Zoë Kent of A to Z Productions. Ostrander (“The Haircut,” “Defining Beauty: Ms. Wheelchair America”) is slated to direct the film, and the story will be adapted by Laura Hansen.
Sports Illustrated Studios launched May 5 as a joint venture between 101 Studios and Authentic Brands Group. The partners said they were developing “Covers,” a docuseries of two-hour segments based on Sports Illustrated’s top cover stories.
“We are thrilled to be able to tell this story,” said David Glasser, CEO of 101 Studios. “We chose for this film to be Sports Illustrated Studios’ inaugural release because at Sports Illustrated Studios, we are proud to bring to life the most compelling sports stories in history in ways that haven’t been seen before, and that’s exactly our mission with Red Rose Crew. The Red Rose Crew’s journey is a remarkable one that many are unfamiliar with, and with a team of dynamic filmmakers, we look forward to allow audiences to see their tenacity and determination firsthand in theaters worldwide.”
Ostrander is a Warner Brothers Emerging Film Directors and TV Directors Workshop alumna, and has directed episodes of “Supergirl,” “American Horror Story,” and “Servant.” She received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for her direction of the pilot episode of “Light as a Feather” on Hulu.
“I’m excited to be working with 101 Studios and have a partner that is championing such an empowering story,” said Ostrander. “I was drawn to this group of unsung heroes and how their struggles and triumphs still hold water today. Their camaraderie, perseverance and steadfast belief in themselves inspire me, and I can’t wait for the world to fall in love with them.”
Leif Cervantes de Reinstein of Sheppard Mullin negotiated the deal on behalf of 101 Studios with George Davis on behalf of Gotham Group, and CAA, Rick Genow and Hannah Mulderink from Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher, LLP for Alexis Ostrander and Zoë Kent.