New practice for Dr. Heigl: film producer

Katherine Heigl, who already has navigated the transition from television to film, is ready to embark on a new role as producer.

Heigl and her manager and mother, Nancy Heigl, have formed a production shingle and set up an untitled action-comedy at Fox 2000 that also will serve as an acting vehicle for the actress. Spyglass also is on board to produce the project, whose plot is being kept confidential.

An Emmy nominee this year for "Grey's Anatomy," the younger Heigl became a bona fide film star with Universal Pictures' "Knocked Up," which has grossed more than $145 million domestically. But even before the film's release in June, she had been looking to get into producing, hoping to craft a project and work with writers.

That's when Bob Kosberg and David Simon, former writing partners, entered the picture. One night about a year ago, the two were tossing around ideas when Simon threw out a premise for an action comedy that caught Kosberg's attention. The two developed it together, and then Kosberg, a longtime producer based at Nash Entertainment, took it to Nash CEO Bruce Nash. After further developing the concept, Kosberg and Nash decided to attach an actress; hearing good prerelease buzz on "Knocked Up," they decided to target Heigl.

First, Kosberg and Nash pitched her agent, Paradigm's Norm Aladjem, who then opened to the door to a meeting with Heigl, who happened to be esconced at the Casa del Mar hotel in Santa Monica for a press junket.

So Kosberg met Heigl amid the junket setting. "I wasn't sure if she thought I was going to ask her a question about 'Knocked Up' or if she knew I was going to pitch her," Kosberg said. "I had done pitches in some pretty unique places, like elevators. but never in the middle of a press junket."

Heigl and her manager-mother sparked to the idea. The next step was to find the project a home, and the obvious choice was Fox 2000, where the actress was shooting "27 Dresses," which is scheduled for release in January. Spyglass, which was producing that romantic comedy, came on board the new project as well.

A search for writers is under way.

Rodney Ferrell is overseeing at Fox 2000.

Kosberg and Nash will exec produce under the Nash Entertainment banner.

Paradigm, which reps the younger Heigl, packaged the film. In addition to her manager Nancy Heigl, the actress also is repped by attorney Stephen Barnes of Barnes Morris Klein Mark Yorn Barnes & Levine.

Spotted this in relation to the production story...

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/artic...0mother_1039540

Dont recall these pics before...could be wrong..so many from 27 Dresses filming and I dont have my PC in front of me.

btw, Janine I adore your My Father The Hero avatars .

Could there be a role for Josh in the company to, as say, music director or something? I bet, as he is multi-talented already!

This really is a super great year for her - and she already knew this was in the works when, I think it was Access Hollywood, commented "Is this the best year for you or what?"

Katherine Heigl starts a production company with her mother. Adorable! (OK, she's her momager, but still. Cute!)

Katherine Heigl and her manager mom have started their own production company and already have a movie in the works.

I love it how the title says Dr.Heigl

Kudos to Katherine! She's a phenomenal actress and incredibly beautiful. I'm really glad she's going full steam ahead with her career.

http://usmagazine.com/afternoon_delights_t...ke_on_hollywood

I just couldn't help, but post the lovely picture of the Heigl Mama and Daughter team .

Yup definitely..from the Donate Life Dr. James S. Wolf Courage Award:

http://kheigl.com/images/appearances/wolfaward130605/

Katherine Heigl finds 'Lost' option
Actress and mother to produce adaptation
By STEVEN ZEITCHIK

Katherine Heigl has optioned film rights to the bestselling dramatic novel "Lost & Found" for her new production banner and will produce it with her mother and producing partner Nancy Heigl.

Jacqueline Sheehan's novel, published by HarperCollins imprint Avon A, focuses on a widowed psychologist who moves to a remote Maine island and works in an animal hospital after her husband dies. Book is in its eighth printing.

Heigl is said to have contacted the author's agent after reading the book. It's not yet known if she may star in the pic.

Thesp has been ramping up her production company in the wake of her turn in "Knocked Up" this summer, which principals said Thursday would be called Abishag.

Banner, which she founded with her mother, is producing an action-comedy with Spyglass and Nash Entertainment that's set up at Fox 2000; project is a possible starring vehicle for the thesp.

Heigl, who won an Emmy on Sunday for her role as Dr. Izzie Stevens on "Grey's Anatomy," is also attached to star in Fox 2000 romantic laffer "27 Dresses."

From Publishers Weekly
In her second novel, Sheehan switches genres from her debut historical about Sojourner Truth to a contemporary tale of grief featuring Rocky Pelligrino, a woman reeling from her husband's death. After her husband dies of a heart attack, Rocky leaves behind her career as a psychologist in the Berkshire Mountains and moves to Peak's Island, Maine, taking a job as an Animal Control Warden. Her first catch is a black Lab with an arrow lodged in his shoulder. She takes him in, searches for his owner and tries to solve the mystery behind the arrow's origin. Rocky makes a few friends-anorexic teenage neighbor Melissa and strangely attractive archery instructor Hill Johnson-and her mission takes a surprisingly dark turn after she learns of Cooper's original owners. Dog lovers will adore Sheehan's portrayal of Cooper, who, in contrast to all the human suffering, comprises the bright spot in a melancholy novel.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Book Description

After Rocky's veterinarian husband dies too young, at 42, she leaves town and her job as a psychologist and heads to secluded Peak's Island, off the coast of Portland. There, she becomes the local Animal Control Warden and reinvents her past so that it no longer includes the tragic fact of her husband's death.

When Rocky finds a dog with a strange handmade arrow sticking out of his shoulder, she both finds a soulmate, and uncovers the beginnings of a mystery. With the new friends she meets on the island, Tess, the synesthete; Melissa, the young anorexic; and Hill, her archery instructor, whom she is simultaneously suspicious of and attracted to; Rocky slowly unravels the mystery of Lloyd the dog, the arrow, and his missing owner. In doing so, she learns that her grief can be displaced, slowly but surely, by moments of joy.

For example, I don't think ABC allows Ellen Pompeo to work on any other projects during hiatus - I could be wrong, but I thought that I read that somewhere.

LAC: A lot of TV actors make movies while they’re on hiatus. You started out in film; do you still have an interest in that?
EP: Certainly, and I get a lot of very interesting offers from some pretty remarkable people, but I can’t take advantage of them because the show doesn’t let me. I’m lucky the show is so successful: I never have to do another movie I’m not proud of. I can be super, super picky. So unless it’s an A-list director and an A-list script, and an A-list cast, I don’t really have the desire to be in movies just to prove that I can. I know I can, because I came from movies.

Absolutely - I would be surprised if she doesn't use her contacts and relationships with other actors and actresses to her advantage - it would make perfect sense for her to work with people she knows.

Katherine Heigl looks into 'Lost & Found'

By Josh Getlin, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 18, 2007
The deal

"Grey's Anatomy" and "Knocked Up" star Katherine Heigl options film rights to "Lost & Found" by Jacqueline Sheehan, a novel about a psychologist reeling from her husband's death who moves to Maine, where she finds friendship -- and emotional strength -- through her relationship with a Labrador retriever.

The players

Heigl inks an option deal with a six-figure purchase price for her new production company, in tandem with her mother, Nancy, her producing partner and manager, represented by Paradigm; Sarah Self at the Gersh Agency and Jenny Bent at Trident Media Group represent Sheehan, whose book was published by Avon A, an imprint of HarperCollins.

The back story

Heigl, basking in the glow of her Emmy for "Grey's Anatomy" and her star turn in "Knocked Up," is jumping into the hot book-to-film market. She snapped up rights to Sheehan's novel, which has 120,000 copies in print, because "it's a sensitive and honest portrayal of loss and the journey toward healing and starting over," showing "the profound bond that exists between humans and animals," her mom said.

On the surface, the deal is just one of many film options taken out on books every month. But to those who brokered it, Heigl's push to seek out the film rights on her own illustrates a growing trend among young Hollywood stars, who are proactively snaring the rights to promising literary material. "Lost & Found" is the second novel by Sheehan, a psychologist and essayist.

"This is a trend that is definitely booming," said Self, who is based in New York. "It was refreshing and it shows that she [Heigl] is thinking about the long term, and is serious not only about acting, which she does well, but producing. I've seen it happen more and more, and stars realize that if they just sit back and react to what is thrown at them, they'll miss out on material they can control."

There is no word yet on whether Heigl -- who is shooting "27 Dresses" for Fox 2000, and has another as-yet-unnamed project in the works at the same studio -- would play the starring role in "Lost & Found." The main character in the novel, Rocky Pelligrino, "is a really strong role for a woman . . . it's a dramedy where the focus is on her and her relationship with this wonderful Labrador retriever," Self says.

Either way, the movie -- like the book -- could tap into a built-in audience of people "who are dealing with their own grief and tragedy, and have been transformed by their experiences with animals," says Bent. "This is a very compelling theme."

josh.getlin@latimes.com

KATHERINE HEIGL CASTS HERSELF

Golden Globe nominee KATHERINE HEIGL has handed herself her next starring role - after snapping up the movie rights to her favourite book. The Knocked Up star will play a woman who bonds with a dog after her husband dies in Lost And Found.

She reveals, "I've optioned a book and there's a role for me. I love the story so much. It's called Lost And Found about a woman whose husband dies suddenly of a heart attack and she goes to this small island off Maine and finds this dog. It's sort of about redemption and healing saving herself and this dog.

"I have five dogs and I'm a big animal person so the book is interesting because parts of it are from the dog's perspective which I loved. In that way, it spoke to me because I give my dogs personalities like if they were a person this is who they'd be."

I wonder if they'll use one of her dogs in the movie. I suppose it's possible depending on what the dog would need to do. I bet her sister will give her some guidance on the roll as well, since she's a vet.

WGA Pacts with Spyglass and MRC

The Writers Guild of America has reached interim agreements with Spyglass Entertainment and Media Rights Capital, the guild's fourth and fifth such pacts following similar deals with Worldwide Pants, United Artists and The Weinstein Company, reports Variety.

The WGA disclosed the new deals Monday as the writers strike moved into its 11th week.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) issued a statement downplaying the impact of the Spyglass and MRC interim deals, asserting, "These one-off agreements are meaningless because the companies signing them know they will not have to abide by their terms for very long, since they'll be superseded by whatever final industrywide accords are reached. If companies truly had to live by the terms of these one-off agreements, we are confident none would ever be signed."

But Spyglass executive Gary Barber said he was pleased to ink the pact. "We're back in business," he added. "We'll go back into full production mode, developing scripts and looking for new projects."

Barber didn't identify specific films, but the interim deal will allow Spyglass to move forward on projects including Ironbow: The Legend of William Tell, which has director Kevin Reynolds attached. In recent months, Spyglass picked up bigscreen rights to Neil Strauss dating novel "The Game," with Dan Weiss signed to adapt, and remake rights to David Cronenberg's The Brood, with Cory Goodman on board to pen the screenplay.

As for MRC, the deal allows it to go forward on a slate of features with Sacha Baron Cohen and Cameron Diaz and directors Robert Rodriguez, Ricky Gervais, Richard Kelly, Walter Salles, Bennett Miller and Todd Field. MRC's planning to move into TV production and is engaged in the creation of digital content through pacts with thesp Raven-Symone and "Family Guy" creator-executive producer Seth MacFarlane.

Terms of the MRC agreement are similar to those in the Worldwide Pants and UA deals, which contain online residuals of 2.5% of distributor's gross for TV programming and 2% for films.

source: Variety

From the WGA announcement:

Los Angeles - The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has reached a comprehensive independent agreement with Spyglass Entertainment. The company finances, produces, and distributes theatrical motion pictures, including some of the most successful films of recent years, including The Sixth Sense, Shanghai Noon, Bruce Almighty, Seabiscuit, Memoirs of a Geisha, and the upcoming 27 Dresses.

“Spyglass Entertainment can now work with the most talented writers in the business - members of the Writers Guilds,” said Patric M. Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America West, and Michael Winship, president of the writers Guild of America, East, in a joint statement. “We are gratified that the company wants to move forward with us and we can continue to put people back to work.”

Spyglass Chief Executive Officers Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum commented, “We are thrilled to have signed this interim agreement with the WGA, and we look forward to continuing our long association with the best writers in the entertainment industry.”

The deal reached with Spyglass Entertainment is similar to the deals the WGA recently announced with United Artists, Worldwide Pants, and MRC and addresses the issues important to writers, including New Media.

Spyglass Entertainment was founded by industry veterans Roger Birnbaum and Gary Barber. Upcoming for the company are the releases of nine films, including 27 Dresses, starring Katherine Heigl, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, starring Martin Lawrence, The Happening, written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, and Morgan Freeman, The Love Guru, starring Mike Myers, and Four Christmases, starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn.

Scribes penciled in for 'Drawn'
'Outsourced' duo to pen Katherine Heigl action-comedy
By Leslie Simmons

Fox 2000 is drawing on scribes Keith Merryman and David A. Newman to pen the Katherine Heigl action-comedy "Drawn Together."

Details of the project are being kept under wraps. The studio would only say the film centers on an electronics designer who meets the woman of his dreams, only to find out that she's not who she seems to be.

Heigl will star as well as produce with manager and mom Nancy Heigl under their Abishag shingle.

Robert Kosberg and Bruce Nash are executive producing under the Nash Entertainment shingle. The two pitched the idea to Heigl and her mom based on a concept by Kosberg's former writing partner David Simon.

Spyglass Entertainment's Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber and Jonathan Glickman also are producing. Fox 2000's Rodney Ferrell is overseeing for the studio.

Merryman and Newman have a series in development at the CW called "How-To Girl," for producers Christine Peters, Lynda Obst and Paramount. The series is based on the film "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days."

The writing duo's recent work also includes "Too Many Husbands" with Red Wagon Prods. for Columbia, a rewrite for "Outsourced" at Columbia and a polish on "Burlesque" for Screen Gems and director Steve Antin.

"We met a lot of writers, and these were the ones who came in with a fully written-out story and captured a great character for Katherine to play," Kosberg said. "We loved the character they created, we loved the sense of humor and loved the action set pieces they brought with the pitch."

Merryman and Newman are repped by APA and Circle of Confusion.

Ryan Shiraki's 'Spring Breakdown' is his big break

Sure, the comedy's going straight to DVD. But with a career-boosting stop at Sundance first, the film's writer-director isn't complaining.

Indeed he does: Seeing perhaps the next Ryan Murphy, HBO has tapped him for "Ladies," a comedy about LAX airport workers he describes "as 'Golden Girls' by way of Richard Pryor." ABC has ordered "Waffle House," his take on the 1970s diner comedy "Alice," and he is writing "Alpha Moms," a feature film for Katherine Heigl that, he says, "takes 'Mean Girls' into the world of maternity."

Finally got some news on the mysterious Alpha Moms project :

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et...0,3380383.story

That sounds cool considering Mean Girls is one of my favorite movies .