Multi-Emmy and Grammy Award-winning production company White Horse Pictures and Library Films are producing a documentary feature WILDER, centered on the life and work of comedic acting legend Gene Wilder, it was announced today by Nicholas Ferrall, President of White Horse Pictures, and Andrew Trapani of Sobey Road Entertainment. The intimate character piece will examine the intangible brilliance that helped make Wilder one of the most beloved and influential actors of the 20th century. Multi-Emmy-nominated filmmaker Chris Smith (Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond, Tiger King, Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.) is directing.
WILDER is a White Horse Pictures and Library Films production, in association with Sobey Road Entertainment, Harlem Hollywood and Mojo Global Arts. White Horse’s Nicholas Ferrall and Cassidy Hartmann will produce alongside Library Films’ Chris Smith and Sobey Road’s Andrew Trapani. White Horse’s Nigel Sinclair and Jeanne Elfant Festa serve as executive producers alongside Morris Ruskin and Joseph Mellicker. Joey Scoma will serve as editor and John Keller as co-executive producer.
Gene Wilder spent more than 30 years delighting audiences and rewriting the rules for what a comedic actor and a movie star could be. Like most performers capable of great comedy, Wilder fought against his own darkness, from which he found refuge on stage and screen. Through the intimate perspective of his nephew/surrogate son Jordan Walker-Pearlman, and a mix of interview and performance archive, the film follows Wilder’s journey from neurotic outsider, to unlikely leading man, to an artist searching for meaning on and off screen.
“To trust other filmmakers with something as sacred to me as my relationship with Gene was not easy, but working with Chris Smith, White Horse Pictures and Andy Trapani has been an incredibly organic experience,” said Walker-Pearlman. “I look forward to seeing Gene’s inner spirit shine on screen for what I hope will be his final great performance.”
“I’ve always been intrigued by Gene’s singular presence as an actor, and his unlikely road to success,” said Smith. “We’re excited to shine a new light on his enduring legacy and allow audiences to meet Gene the artist, off-screen.”
“We’re so grateful to be on this filmmaking journey with the full support of Jordan Walker-Pearlman and working alongside the incredibly talented Chris Smith,” added Ferrall.
CAA Media Finance and White Horse are repping the rights for distribution.
Chris Smith is represented by CAA.
ABOUT WHITE HORSE PICTURES
White Horse Pictures is a production company focused on high quality, commercial content creation across various different media – Film, TV and Documentaries. White Horse is based in Los Angeles, and has four partners –Nicholas Ferrall, Jeanne Elfant Festa, Cassidy Hartmann and Nigel Sinclair.
Nigel Sinclair serves as chairman, and has produced a number of award-winning films, including the BAFTA Nominated, Critics’ Choice and Grammy Award-winning The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years and Pavarotti, both directed by Ron Howard and in partnership with Imagine Entertainment.
Other titles include Martin Scorsese’s, George Harrison: Living In The Material World, which won two Emmy Awards and was nominated for a BAFTA, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan for which Sinclair won a Grammy Award and both the Academy Award winning Undefeated and the Grammy Award-winning Foo Fighters: Back And Forth.
Nicholas Ferrall is president of White Horse Pictures and served as an executive producer on Pavarotti, The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years, The Apollo, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, the Academy Award Short Listed Refugee and A Faster Horse.
Jeanne Elfant Festa most recently produced, alongside Sinclair, the Amy Poehler-directed documentary film Lucy and Desi, and she served as producer with Sinclair on Pavarotti. Elfant Festa, produced the Emmy Award-winning and Oscar-shortlisted documentary The Apollo, directed by Roger Ross Williams, and together, Sinclair & Elfant Festa produced the Emmy- winning and multi-nominated HBO film The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, directed by Frank Marshall. Elfant Festa is also producing a narrative feature about Keith Moon, the legendary drummer of The Who.
Cassidy Hartmann, together with Elfant Festa, produced The Apollo. Hartmann serves as writer or co-writer on most of the company’s projects, including Pavarotti, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, The Apollo, and several forthcoming unannounced projects. Hartmann is currently producing a newly announced documentary about the legendary puppeteer and personality, Shari Lewis titled, Shari & Lamb Chop.
The company is in post-production on the Gary Shore-directed genre film The Queen Mary.
