In San Sebastian to receive the festival’s highest honor, the Donostia career achievement award, American actor, producer and director Johnny Depp has announced his involvement in a new development fund for film and TV projects, headed by his own upstart London-based IN.2 Films and Adolfo Blanco’s Contracorriente in Spain.
IN.2 is Depp’s newly-launched U.K.-based production house, born from his L.A.-based Infinitum Nihil, which is courting scripts for films, stage productions and plays “focusing on European sensibility combined with American accessibility,” explained a release handed out during a San Sebastian press conference.
Producers Stephen Deuters (“Minamata”) and Stephen Malit (“Hector”) are also joining IN.2 as co-heads alongside Depp, and were in person in San Sebastian to jointly announced the new development deal with A Contracorriente.
In the release, Depp explained: “From the student to the maestro, from the aspiring artists to the yet-knowns, to the well-established great masters across all forms of modern media, IN.2 will build a space where artists can be artists, where they will be free to create those unexpected moments, those happy accidents that contain the propensity to constitute great art and so bring their unique vision to life.”
Referencing the new development deal, Blanco added that “We are delighted and proud to be working with Johnny Depp and his partners on this project, which is so timely for the new times, marked by a changing model in our industry. Being able to identify and produce films with the ability to target specific audiences will be key to remaining competitive.”
Depp and IN.2 are also planning new projects with Julien Temple, who directed the Depp-produced “Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan,” which played at last year’s San Sebastian.
Depp is becoming something of a regular at the Basque event. This year, Depp was honored with the festival’s prestigious Donostia Award, the festival’s top honor given in recognition of his prolific career. At a pre-ceremony press conference, Depp reflected back on his three-plus decades in the industry, while avoiding questions about his personal life.