Filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée and his longtime producing partner Nathan Ross announced they have formed Crazyrose, a full-service production company dedicated to developing, financing and producing original content. The company will partner to make film, TV and documentaries with Alex Walton and Ken Kao’s BLOOM. The deal will cover projects that Vallée will direct, and those he won’t.
The pair received Golden Globes and Emmys for Big Little Lies, starring Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Alexander Skarsgard, Shailene Woodley and Zoe Kravitz. The series took home a total of eight Emmys (including best director for Jean-Marc Vallée) and four Golden Globes. This was their first foray into television following a run of films, including the Oscar-nominated Dallas Buyers Club, which included Oscar wins for Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, as well as Wild, starring Witherspoon and Dern, both of whom were Oscar nominated.
Up next for the team is the HBO series Sharp Objects starring Amy Adams, based on the best-selling book by Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl), which is in post-production. The series is set to debut this summer. The second season of Big Little Lies will begin shooting this year and both will executive produce.
The two have been working together for 12 years, and met when Ross was an agent at ICM. He signed Vallée as a client after seeing his breakout French language film C.R.A.Z.Y. at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival. After Ross left ICM in 2010, the two teamed up for Dallas Buyers Club and have continued working in their current capacity.
Jean-Marc Vallée and Nathan Ross said: “During the production of ‘Big Little Lies’ last spring, Graham Taylor presented us with an offer we couldn’t refuse: the ability to take command and control of our creative destiny in terms of decision making, content ownership and the economics of filmmaking. After a thoughtful and thorough search, we are thrilled to now form Crazyrose and be partnered with BLOOM. Alex and Ken totally speak our language of “artist first” enhancing our notion that commerce and art can exist effectively and not be compromised. Our hope is to foster character driven stories and something seemingly unique and unprecedented in the marketplace that we and other filmmakers can take advantage of.”
Alex Walton and Ken Kao from BLOOM added: “Jean-Marc Vallée and Nathan Ross have proven to be a first-class team in high-end feature film and television, we are so delighted that they have chosen BLOOM as their strategic partner to help further grow their output. As our first partnership in the next phase of BLOOM’s development we could not have hoped for stronger partners.”
BLOOM was recently acquired by Endeavor Content, and its diversified slate includes Scott Cooper’s Hostiles, currently in theaters and starring Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike and Wes Studi. This first look deal gives BLOOM a strategic film & TV partner to enter into the original content and production space. Endeavor Content advises Crazyrose.
