Chloe Bailey Boards AGC Studio’s Wall Street Drama ‘Midas Touch’
Musician and actor Chloe Bailey (Grown-ish) has signed on to star in the Wall Street drama Midas Touch from AGC Studios. The flick follows the true story of Lauren Simmons, the youngest equity trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and only the second African American woman to hold that position. Bailey will star as Simmons in the pic, which will be directed by Numa Perrier (The Perfect Find). Simmons is an executive producer on the film, as are AGC’s Stuart Ford, Lourdes Diaz, and Glendon Palmer. CAA negotiated on behalf of Bailey and AGC’s SVP of Legal & Business Affairs, Anant Tamirisa, and Palmer negotiated on behalf of AGC.
‘The Pact’ Producer Little Door Expands With Drama Hires
The Welsh indie behind BBC drama The Pact, Little Door Productions, has hired Sherlock and Baker Boys exec Bethan Jones as an executive producer and Beth Jones as development executive. Jonesjoins from Playground, where her credits include Lionsgate+’s Dangerous Liaisons. She’ll also remain co-Creative Director of Red Seam, a company she co-founded in 2019 that will continue to develop projects with Little Door’s support. Grantwas previously development exec at the BBC’s Writersroom Wales and Story and Script Editoer on long-running medical drama Casualty. She’s also worked for Tidy Productions and Newman Street.
‘The Battle At Lake Changjin’ Named Golden Rooster Best Film
War epic The Battle at Lake Changjin was named Best Film at China’s Golden Rooster Awards on Saturday. Helmed by Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam, the 2021 title also scored directing honors. It is the highest grossing local film ever in China with RMB 5.77B ($900M). A making-of documentary is set to be released this weekend in the market. Meanwhile, members of the cast of Frant Gwo’s The Wandering Earth 2 also made an appearance at the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival over the weekend. The sequel, to the groundbreaking sci-fi picture — whose events take place before the original film — stars Wu Jing, Li Xuejian, Sha Yi, Ning Li, Wang Zhi, Zhu Yanmanzi and Andy Lau. It is expected to release during the Lunar New Year holiday next year.
First Poster For Sudhanshu Saria’s ‘Sanaa’
Ahead of its world premiere at the 26th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Sudhanshu Saria’s drama Sanaa has revealed its first poster. See it below. Radhika Madan stars as the eponymous woman fighting an internal battle due to unresolved trauma. Sanaa also stars Pooja Bhatt, Sohum Shah, Shikha Talsania, Nikhil Khurana and Navneet Nishan. It is the only Indian film competing for the Grand Prix for Best Film at the ongoing Tallinn fest in Estonia. Saria is next due to helm female-led espionage drama Ulajh. He is also co-producing and writing Delhi Crime Season 3 for Netflix.
Channel 4 Shuts ‘Ackley Bridge’ After Five Seasons
British network Channel 4 has closed the doors on its school-set drama series Ackley Bridge after five seasons. The news emerged yesterday, with the show’s official Twitter account confirming it was at an end. The show, from All3Media’s The Forge, followed the lives of teachers and students at a multicultural school in a segregated white and Pakistani community in northern England. Channel 4 said in a statement: “As a broadcaster, we’re immensely proud of Ackley Bridge, which over the last five seasons has received praise for the way in which it has tackled real-life situations and issues in an irreverent and insightful way. However, Channel 4 has a responsibility to continuously look for new and innovative ideas and we have made the difficult decision to not greenlight another series.”
