Actress Julia Stiles Cast as Famed Screenwriter Frances Marion In the Mary Pickford Feature Film "THE FIRST"
DeLia and Pacino are currently in Berlin to take meetings for THE FIRST, in addition to talking with international distributors for another Poverty Row Entertainment film, "Billy Bates," which previously had a special screening at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film follows a fictional artist (James Wirt) in the vein of Basquiat or Warhol, who faces his dark childhood memories and as a result, breaks through inherent psychological barriers, thus, enabling him to create his newest body of work. Artist Burton Machen, along with James Wirt, will be in Berlin with DeLia and Pacino to host an event during the festival.
- (1888PressRelease) February 02, 2013 - Berlin - Gearing up for the Berlin Film Festival, director Jennifer DeLia and producer Julie Pacino of Poverty Row Entertainment have announced that actress Julia Stiles has joined the cast of the Mary Pickford film THE FIRST. She will play Frances Marion, the first female to win an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1930 and often referred to as the most renowned screenwriter of the 20th Century. Pickford was Marion's muse as the two collaborated on numerous projects together including "Rebecca from Sunnybrook Farm" and "Poor Little Rich Girl."
"As in our casting Lily Rabe as Pickford, Julia is someone I could instantly envision in that era and within the world of Old Hollywood," said director DeLia. "I've watched her work since I was a kid in the mid-90's when she was emerging as a very cool and very talented actress, and in my eyes, she has never wavered from being someone totally dedicated to what she does. Her range is so interesting, even seeing her recently in 'Silver Linings Playbook;' her performance was a highlight for me. Everyone on the production team couldn't be more excited about Julia becoming a part of this project."
Stiles joins a cast that already includes Lily Rabe as Pickford, Michael Pitt at Owen Moore, and actress Ryan Simpkins as a young Pickford. DeLia will direct a script by Josh Fagin, while Pacino and Said Zahraoui will produce along with co-producer Dominick Fairbanks (grandson of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr and great grandson to Douglas Fairbanks) and his UK-based Fairbanks Productions. The film is based on Eileen Whitfield's biography "Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood."
Before production begins later this year, the roles of Douglas Fairbanks, D.W. Griffith, Jack Pickford (Mary's brother), Charlotte Hennessy (Mary's mother), and Lillian Gish will be cast.
THE FIRST will delve into Pickford's life from a woman's point of view and will illuminate the artistry, spirituality, and integrity that moved Mary Pickford through the ground-breaking and controversial world of her time. From 1892 through to her passing in 1979, Pickford was the powerhouse who, along with Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and D. W. Griffith, created their own distribution company, United Artists, which was designed to serve the filmmakers rather than the studio heads. Known as 'America's Sweetheart,' 'Little Mary,' and 'The Girl with the Curls,' the Canadian-born Pickford was one of silent film's most important performers and had international fame that reached heights never seen before, as for the first time, an idol emerged from moving images or 'cinema.' She was the biggest and most beloved movie star of the time; she was the face of the American Military; she was one of the 36 co-founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; and she was an activist. She fulfilled missions that no one else in her time could have and no one since her could even imagine.
Stiles can currently be seen in the Oscar Nominated film "Silver Linings Playbook" (The Weinstein Company), opposite Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro and Chris Tucker, directed by David O. Russell. She will next take on the role of 'Sarah' in "Aguar Rojas," a Jonathan King/Participant film and recently finished shooting "Closed Circuit" (Focus Features) directed by John Crowley. She can also be seen in the upcoming independent feature, "Between Us" opposite Taye Diggs, directed by Dan Mirvish. She just wrapped production on the second season of "Blue" and is currently in post on the for par tWIGS series "Paloma" which she wrote and directed.
For more information about Poverty Row Entertainment, please visit http://www.povertyrowentertainment.com.
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