Los Angeles, CA — April 28, 2020 — In a competitive bidding situation, Village Roadshow Pictures has acquired the rights to adapt SONGS IN URSA MAJOR by Emma Brodie into a feature film, for which she will write the script. Sarah Schechter and Greg Berlanti of Berlanti Productions will produce. Michael McGrath will executive produce. Jillian Apfelbaum will oversee for Village Roadshow Pictures.
The book will be published in summer 2021 by Alfred A. Knopf after acquiring the book in a major deal earlier this month.
SONGS IN URSA MAJOR is a love story set in 1969 at the crossroads of rock and folk about a young musical prodigy who falls in love with a hard-partying folk legend.
Emma Brodie is an Executive Editor at Little Brown’s Voracious imprint. In her ten years in book publishing, she’s worked at Trident Media Group, William Morrow, and Clarkson Potter, where she authored over twenty gift books and games, including the bestselling Punderdome, Deal or Duel, Come As You Aren’t, and Dear Jane. Emma is a longtime contributor to HuffPost and a faculty member at Catapult, Co. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.
WME sold the dramatic rights on behalf of Susan Golomb at Writers House.
Berlanti Productions is represented by WME.
About Village Roadshow Entertainment Group
Village Roadshow Entertainment Group is a leading global entertainment company building premier, content-rich businesses in the entertainment industry. VREG employs innovative strategies to produce, acquire and deliver intellectual properties with timeless appeal, while maximizing group-wide strategic and operational efficiencies. VREG is the holding company of Village Roadshow Pictures and Village Roadshow Television. Under its leadership by Vine Alternative Investments, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group diversified its portfolio to include financing and producing projects across multiple formats including film, television and digital.
About Berlanti Productions
Berlanti Productions is a production company founded by Emmy and Golden Globe nominated writer, director, and producer, Greg Berlanti. The company has produced both critically acclaimed and commercially successful titles since its inception in 2006. Berlanti’s producing partner, Sarah Schechter, serves as Chairwoman and David Madden serves as President of the company.
Currently, Berlanti Productions has a record-breaking 21 scripted series across seven different networks, the highest number of shows to air at one time. Series produced under Berlanti Productions include CW’s “Riverdale,” “Arrow,” “The Flash,” “Supergirl,” “Black Lightning,” “All American,” “Batwoman;” DC Universe’s “Titans,” “Doom Patrol, “ NBC’s “Blindspot;” Netflix’s “You,” “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina;” FOX’s “Prodigal Son.”
Most recently, Berlanti directed the highly acclaimed 2018 film, “Love, Simon.”
Berlanti Productions has a wealth of film titles currently in development, including “Free Guy,” starring Ryan Reynolds, set to premiere in July 2020 and “Unpregnant,” the first of four films Berlanti Productions is making for HBO Max. Other upcoming film projects including Rock Hudson’s biopic “All That Heaven Allows,” written by Richard Lagravenese at Universal Pictures, Alice & Freda’s “Forever,” to be directed by Jennifer Kent for Amazon Studios and an adaptation of “Little Shop of Horrors” to be directed by Berlanti.