by FilmInk Staff
Australian independent production company Magpie Pictures has optioned the screen rights to USA Today best-selling novel Pictures of You by Emma Grey, as part of a slate of bold and distinctive scripted series developed through its Screen Australia Enterprise funded growth strategy.
“We have curated a slate focussed on impactful stories from Australian female creators that will engage and entertain Australian and international audiences” said Magpie Pictures founder and producer Lois Randall.
“Emma Grey is establishing herself as a best-selling Australian author, with a talent for writing compelling and deeply affecting fiction. Pictures of You rocketed straight into the USA Today best seller list after it was published in November and is already out-pacing Grey’s debut novel The Last Love Note which was a global breakout best seller”.
Randall, who will produce the series with Matt Kelly as EP, continued: “Pictures of You follows forensic linguist Evie Hudson who, after a car crash that killed her husband, can’t remember him or any of the past 13 years. As she pieces together fragments of her life Evie has to confront what she’s lost and find what she still has to fight for. With its unique hook and point of view we’re adapting Pictures of You as a mystery thriller that, while traversing urgent themes, has a second chance love story at its heart.”
Author Emma Grey said: “From the outset, Magpie Pictures has shared my vision to capture the light and shade in this story, and my desire to translate the novel’s powerful contemporary messages for a fresh audience. I’m thrilled to be working with Lois and the team.”
Magpie Pictures’ new slate also includes Blue Mountains-set original mystery thriller series The Dark Horse and the Hummingbird created by Lâle Teoman, and twisty dramedy Provenance written by Giula Sandler, based on the Melbourne art-world mysteries by Katherine Kovacic.
Magpie Pictures has also announced the appointment of new advisors in the second stage of the Enterprise strategy. Randall said she is “honoured to work with Los Angeles-based executive and producer Quan Phung [left] and acclaimed Australian producer Fiona Eagger, who are advising on both creative and business development, bringing an extraordinary depth of experience and market insight to the company”.
This follows the previously announced appointment of Matthew Kelly as Business Executive, and Claire Lindsay and Ree Evans as job-share Development Producers.
Quan Phung is an independent producer and consultant who is developing a slate of global projects through his Miquan Productions banner. His 25 years in the industry includes positions as Senior Vice President, Original Series, for Topic Studios and Senior Vice President, Creative Affairs, for 20th Century Fox TV. Among the global hits he’s developed are Emmy Award-winning series How I Met Your Mother and House, MD.
Fiona Eagger [left], among Australia’s most experienced and successful television producers, founded Every Cloud Productions with Deb Cox to develop and produce scripted series including the runaway international success, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, which has sold to more than 170 territories.
Quan Phung said of his appointment “I’m thrilled to serve as an advisor for Magpie and a producing partner with Lois on select projects. Magpie’s already shown a keen eye in identifying fresh voices with series like Swift Street. As global audiences and buyers embrace uniquely Australian series, it’s a great time for Magpie to focus on authentic female voices that will create the next big Australian global hit. I’m excited to join the Magpie team at Screen Forever to help connect them to global partners.”
