Productionexecutive Tinker Lindsay and meditation expert Peter Russell are kicking offtheir new Los Angeles-based development and production company PippalaProductions with the spiritually themed Becoming Buddha.

The partnershave completed the screenplay and secured initial development funding on theproject, which is currently out to directors, investors, and other key players.

"The projectrequires a special kind of directorial vision as much of the film portraysSiddhartha's inner experience," Russell said in a statement. "There's apossibility here for some ground-breaking visual storytelling."

Lindsay added:"We believe that last year's indie hit What The Bleep Do We Know'!, the Buddhist-flavored I HeartHuckabees, and theoverwhelmingly successful The Passion Of The Christ have demonstrated that there's a growinghunger for this kind of film.

"While Siddhartha lived 2,500 years ago, his heroicjourney is uniquely suited to Western audiences today. Our world may bedrastically different, but our longing for an end to suffering is the same."

Further detailsof Pippala's upcoming slate will be announced in due course.

Since 1979 Lindsay hasserved as executive vice president for Beatty Productions, where herdevelopment credits include The Book Of Bebb. She also directed the documentary Seeing InfantsWith New Eyes and served asdevelopment executive on the recent Miramax release Shall We Dance.