CAA has signed Krystin Ver Linden, writer and director of the Sundance Film Festival selection “Alice,” for representation.
The dramatic thriller marks Ver Linden’s feature film debut. Prior to its festival launch, Roadside Attractions and Vertical Entertainment nabbed U.S. rights to the picture, starring Keke Palmer, Common and Johnny Lee Miller, in a deal made by CAA Media Finance. “Alice” will be released in theaters on Friday, March 18.
Palmer plays the titular “Alice,” an enslaved woman who escapes her plantation and finds herself in 1973 Georgia. When the filmmaker and star joined Variety‘s senior entertainment writer Adam B. Vary for the Variety Virtual Sundance Studio, alongside producer Peter Lawson, they unpacked the movie’s complex themes.
Despite the fact that she was the filmmaker’s first choice for the part, Palmer was initially hesitant to sign on due to the sensitive subject matter.
“But when I read it, I was like, ‘Now this is how I’m trying to revisit history,’” Palmer explained, adding, “What I felt from [Ver Linden’s] project was… the true story that we’re trying to tell, which is resilience and empowerment and hope for the future.”
Upcoming, Ver Linden’s spec script “Ride” — a 2018 Black List selection that tells the story of pioneering astronaut Sally Ride — sold to Lionsgate, with Joey Soloway (“Transparent,” “Six Feet Under,” “The United States of Tara”) attached to direct.
In addition to CAA, Ver Linden continues to be represented by attorney Barry Littman at Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs and Fox, and Marion PR.