The increasing demand for original film and TV content has resulted in players targeting earlier stages of the production process. Now talent agencies, in both the U.K. and the U.S., are arriving earlier to the dance.
The latest agency to dive into content creation is The Artists Partnership (TAP), which is launching The Development Partnership (TDP) with a slate that includes a new take on Cyrano de Bergerac from Joseph Fiennes, a drama series with Anna Friel and a film project about a real-life con man, with James Norton.
TAP, which is part of the Marcus Evans group, aims to focus on nascent development; its new sister operation, TDP, is working with clients from the main agency and its book-to-film department, then going out to find production partners. The TDP team is aware that there are some sticky questions over agents getting into production – the effect it has on agents’ relationships with actors and with producers, for instance – but says it wants to go about things in a way that addresses such concerns.
“We want to have a development infrastructure but not be a fully fledged production entity,” says Robert Taylor, who is heading TDP. “On a case-by-case basis, we want to find the right production company to partner with, and to partner the talent with.”
TAP’s roster of stars includes Emily Blunt, Idris Elba and Fiennes, among other big names. Taylor says the agency’s new initiative will provide actors with a fresh outlet.[…]
TDP has partnered with several established industry players for its first projects, which are being shopped to broadcasters, platforms and financiers. Fiennes is attached to executive produce and star in “Cyrano.” Also on board are DRG and its drama-commissioning entity Atrium TV, which counts the likes of BT, Orange and Televisa as members.
“McMafia” star Norton is attached to topline and exec produce “Chasing Agent Freegard.” The film is from “Captain Phillips” co-producer Michael Bronner and based on the true story of con man Robert Hendy-Freegard. Friel, star of Netflix and ITV drama “Marcella,” is attached to produce and star in “Borderlands,” which will be a TDP and Monumental co-production. It’s based on the memoirs of airport doctor Stephanie Green, and being set up as a six-part series.
