EXCLUSIVE: London-based Evolution Pictures has signed a four-picture worldwide sales deal with US outfit Verdi Productions, which includes Tom Donahue’s Finding Oz, a feature documentary co-produced with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions, and Tom DeNucci’s drama Bad News On The Doorstep.
Two further projects are yet to be announced.
Finding Oz goes behind the scenes of the troubled production of 1939 classic The Wizard Of Oz, exploring the pressures faced by star Judy Garland and director Victor Fleming. Producers include Verdi Productions’ co-founder and president Chad A. Verdi, Appian Way’s Jennifer Davisson and creator and co-writer of TV series Dopesick and Empire, Danny Strong. Re-enactments shot in the summer, with a 2027 release plotted.
Bad News On The Doorstep is set in the working-class neighbourhoods of late-1950s New Jersey and follows two gifted Italian American high school football players drawn into the dangerous world of organised crime. Cast includes Dante Palminteri, Nick Davi, Chazz Palminteri, Robert Davi, Mischa Barton and former NFL star Rob ‘Gronk’ Gronkowski.
DeNucci co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Cervasio, author of semi-autobiographical novel of the same name thatl the film is based on. The completed film will have its market premiere at AFM.
Verdi Productions’ credits include Martin Scorsese collaborations, documentary The Sea Remembers and has an executive producer on The Irishman. Evolution Pictures’ slate includes Jeremy Garelick’s Rolling Loud The Movie starring Owen Wilson and Matt Rife.
Further producers of Finding Oz are Ilan Arboleda, Phillip Watson, Michelle Verdi, Chad Verdi Jr. and Paul Luba, with executive producers Sera C.C. Verdi, Taylor DiGilio and Anthony Gudas.
Producers of Bad News On The Doorstep are Chad A. Verdi, along with Michelle Verdi, Chad Verdi Jr., Paul Luba and Sera Verdi. Executive Producers are Peter Watzka, Dan Autiello, Cervasio, John T. Callaghan, Anthony Gudas, Peter Baccile, Tom Bernardo, Vito Cucci, Joey Maurillo and Barry Maurillo.
”Among our company’s varied range of projects, Verdi Productions continues to develop films based on untold true stories like Finding Oz and Bad News On The Doorstep and we are eager to introduce these remarkable stories to audiences and buyers on a global scale,” said Chad A. Verdi.
“Finding Oz offers a fascinating look behind one of cinema’s most enduring films, with Appian Way and Verdi Productions bringing together an exceptional creative team. Bad News On The Doorstep pairs a distinctive cast with a compelling crime story rooted in friendship and ambition,”added Fred Hedman, CEO of Evolution Pictures. ”Together, they are an exciting foundation for our partnership.”
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