Beverly Hills-based Little Studio Films partners Alexandra Yacovlef and Alexia Melocchi are fast-tracking the music-themed dramas Woody, Cisco And Me and Stalking Simon Le Bon.

Mimi Leder will direct Woody, Cisco And Me from the novel of the same name by Jim Longhi is set during the second world war and tells of a youngster in the Merchant Marines who befriends folk legends Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston en route to the beaches of Normandy.

Reuben Leder is adapting the screenplay and Little Studio Films is producing with Italian production and visual effects company Ghost Behind The Chair.

Stalking Simon Le Bon is written by Amy Cabranes and centres on a group of dysfunctional Duran Duran fans in 1983 as they prepare to watch their idols in concert. The project has the support of the band and Jim Fall is attached to direct.

Paul Almond of Fischbach, Perlstein, Lieberman and Almond represented Little Studio Films in the negotiations. Production on both films is set to begin late this year.