AGC STUDIOS, CNN FILMS, AND BBC ARTS TO CO-PRODUCE PASSION PICTURES’ “LADY BOSS: THE JACKIE COLLINS STORY” WITH AGC STUDIOS ACQUIRING GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS
CNN FILMS RETAINS NORTH AMERICAN TELEVISION RIGHTS;
BBC ARTS RETAINS UK RIGHTS FOR BBC TWO AND BBC IPLAYER
AGC Studios, CNN Films, and the BBC Arts will co-finance the Laura Fairrie-directed, John Battsek and Lizzie Gillett of Passion Pictures-produced (Oscar®-winners One Day in September and Searching for Sugar Man, Oscar®-nominated Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom, Restrepo) LADY BOSS: THE JACKIE COLLINS STORY, the companies jointly announced today. AGC International, the international sales and distribution arm of fast-growing AGC Studios, will handle global distribution rights on behalf of Passion Pictures and will introduce the film to U.S. domestic and international buyers in the fall. CNN Films (APOLLO 11, RBG, Three Identical Strangers) will retain broadcast television rights in North America. BBC Arts will retain broadcast television for BBC Two on terrestrial television, and catch up VOD rights in the U.K. on BBC iPlayer.
AGC Chairman and CEO Stuart Ford is executive producing LADY BOSS: THE JACKIE COLLINS STORY alongside CNN Worldwide Executive Vice president for Talent and Content Development Amy Entelis, Vice President for CNN Films Courtney Sexton, BBC Arts Commissioning Editor Mark Bell, and Rachel Traub.
This “truth-is-stranger-than-fiction” documentary about best-selling author, rebel, actress, millionaire Hollywood chronicler, mother, sister, survivor, and unlikely feminist, Jackie Collins, is as revealing as it is perceptive. LADY BOSS: THE JACKIE COLLINS STORY tells the untold true story of one of the world’s best-selling novelists whose turbulent, complex, and inspiring life rivaled the spicy plots she dreamed up for her novels.
AGC and CNN Films recently announced their collaboration for the production of another distinctive documentary, the Dawn Porter-directed JOHN LEWIS (UNTITLED), about the legendary civil rights activist, Congressman John Lewis, and his social and legislative activism working alongside everyone from Dr. Martin Luther King to President Barack Obama. AGC Studios and CNN Films are co-financing and co-producing that film with Trilogy Films and Color Farm Media, with AGC International controlling the international rights.
The deal for LADY BOSS: THE JACKIE COLLINS STORY was negotiated by Executive Producer, Rachel Traub, and AGC’s Vice President of Legal & Business Affairs, Anant Tamirisa, on behalf of AGC; by John Battsek on behalf of Passion Pictures; Courtney Sexton, Vice President for CNN Films, and Stacey Wolf, Vice President for Business Affairs for CNN Worldwide, on behalf of CNN; and overseen by Mark Bell, Commissioning Editor for BBC Arts, on behalf of BBC Two.
LADY BOSS: THE JACKIE COLLINS STORY marks another high-profile theatrical documentary partnership for AGC’s fast evolving nonfiction slate after the company successfully sold Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9, following its rousing world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, and Ryan White’s moving and entertaining look at inimitable sex therapist and media personality Dr. Ruth Westheimer, ASK DR. RUTH, after its inspiring, audience-pleasing world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The deal completes a busy period for AGC. In recent weeks the indie studio has wrapped production on sci-fi television series WAR OF THE WORLDS, starring Gabriel Byrne and Elizabeth McGovern, on revenge thriller THE SECRETS WE KEEP, starring Noomi Rapace and Joel Kinnaman, and on feature comedy BREAKING NEWS IN YUBA COUNTY, starring Oscar®-winner Allison Janney, Mila Kunis, Regina Hall, Awkwafina, and Wanda Sykes. They are currently in production on Neil Burger’s young adult sci-fi thriller VOYAGERS, starring Tye Sheridan, Lily-Rose Depp, and Colin Farrell. In May, AGC International, the studio’s international sales and distribution arm, launched Roland Emmerich’s MOONFALL, the biggest sales title in Cannes.
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