Michelle MacLaren, Emmy winning director, Best Series for ‘Breaking Bad’, moves into features with ‘The Nightingale’.
The novel ‘The Nightingale’, by Kristin Hannah, is a historical fiction war drama. The book has sold over 2 million copies, and spent 75 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list, and still counting. The current screenplay adaptation, written by Ann Peacock, will be polished by Michelle MacLaren and John Sayles. Elizabeth Cantillon will Produce with Tri-Star distributing.
An intimate, epic story, set in a German occupied France during World War 11, it is inspired by the true story of Andree de Jongh, a Belgian woman who helped downed Allied pilots escape from Nazi territory. Viann is the older French sister, who lives comfortably in the French countryside with her husband and child. She becomes a prisoner with her daughter in their own home, when German forces occupy it after her husband leaves to fight in the war. She is forced to make impossible choices to save herself and her daughter. Her younger sister Isabelle is sent by the father to help her. She joins the resistance, risking her own life to help save others.
Says Michelle, “Graphic novels are such a visually creative world, you are able to do so much with just one scene. I’m hooked”.
Michelle has directed the pilot episode for David Simon of ‘The Deuce’, on HBO, starring James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal. The 8 episode series deals with the legalization of the porn industry in the 1970’s. Says Michelle, “I am drawn to the dark side, I know what scares people”. Look for ‘The Deuce’ this summer, and ‘The Nightingale’ sometime this year.
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