Krystin Ver Linden is set to write and direct “Alice,” a slavery drama that will be produced and co-financed by Greg Silverman’s Stampede and Peter Lawson’s Steel Springs Pictures.
Alice” tells the true story of a slave in the antebellum South who escapes from her secluded plantation only to discover a shocking reality that lies beyond the tree line. The film will mark Stampede’s second feature to go into production after “Pink Skies Ahead,” as well as the first feature made under the Steel Springs Pictures banner. Filming is expected to commence in Louisiana in early 2020.
Ver Linden recently sold her 2018 Black List script “Ride” to Lionsgate with Jill Soloway set to direct. She also wrote the script for the biopic “Ashe,” about tennis great Arthur Ashe. Ver Linden also worked with Quentin Tarantino for seven years, assisting on “Django Unchained” and “Inglourious Basterds.”
“We’re so thrilled to be working with such a talented writer and director in Krystin Ver Linden,” Silverman and Lawson said in a statement. “Her voice brings to life this tragic and untold story of American history in a most captivating way. She’s an absolute powerhouse and we couldn’t be prouder to be supporting her debut as a filmmaker.”
Stampede’s Silverman and Lisa Zambri will produce alongside Steel Springs’ Lawson. Stampede’s Gideon Yu and Chris Bosco and Steel Springs Pictures’ Jose Agustin Valdes and Luisa Fernanda Espinosa will serve as executive producers. Silverman is the former Warner Bros. Pictures president who’s now CEO and co-chairman at Stampede. Lawson was an executive at Miramax, The Weinstein Company and Open Road with executive producer credits on “John Wick” and Best Picture winner “Spotlight.”
The deal was brokered by Stampede’s Chris Bosco and Anna Pinar and Linda Lichter on behalf of Steel Springs. Ver Linden is represented by Verve and Hansen Jacobson.
