2019 seemed to be the year where female filmmakers simply weren’t acknowledged by the film community but their films broke out into the mainstream. Filmmakers like Lorene Scafaria, Lulu Wang, Alma Har’el and Olivia Wilde all had their films be recognized by the mainstream general audiences.
Actress turned director Olivia Wilde seems to fill her filmography and doesn’t seem like she’s going to be stopping anytime soon. Last August news broke of New Line striking a lucrative deal with Wilde which was record-breaking and had a ton of backend of the director. She’s seen as one of the hottest filmmakers around town and studios all around town were looking to work with her.
Read: Searchlight Pictures & Hulu Sundance Film Festival review
Now Searchlight Pictures have joined the exclusive list of studios working with Hollywood’s hottest director. Searchlight recently closed a deal of $15 million to acquire the global rights to a gymnastics film Perfect with Wilde set to make this her third directorial feature.
Wilde made a presentation during the Berlin Film Festival which then triggered a bidding war between multiple studios with Searchlight pictures to continue their rich tradition of working film auteur filmmakers. Perfect is based on the memoir of Kerri Sturg written by John P. Lopez “Landing On My Feet, A Diary of Dreams” follows her at the 1996 Olympics. Where she executed a career-defining move on her heavily injured ankle to lead the USA to gold. The script is written by Ronnie Sandahl.
