Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) May 25, 2009 -- HighRoad Entertainment (www.highroadent.com), the full-service entertainment company that produces, distributes, markets, and supports entertainment content in all mediums, today announced that they have optioned script Looking for Norma Desmond, from Bottle Shock writer, Ross Schwartz, who quickly gained recognition for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival crowd-pleaser, based on a true story of a Napa winery's 1973 victory in a major French tasting contest and reminiscent of movies like Sideways. As the son of Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island creator and producer, Sherwood Schwartz, Ross grew up with an insider's grasp of Hollywood dynamic and has incorporated that unique, personal insight into his latest script, Looking for Norma Desmond, for an Old Hollywood meets New Hollywood vibe.
Looking for Norma Desmond tells the tangled love story of a small-time writer, Harry, and Betty Moran, a former Hollywood starlet whose career, though on a 30 year hiatus, is about to make a comeback at his hand. True to Hollywood style both lives take a twist that leaves Harry's dignity hanging by a thread. The film draws from the classic Hollywood movie, Sunset Blvd, which is set in '50s Hollywood and focuses on Norma Desmond (played by Gloria Swanson), a silent-screen goddess whose belief in her own indestructibility has turned her into an eccentric recluse. The life of main character, Betty Moran, parallels that of Norma Desmond.
"Old Hollywood had an elegance, heart, and style that we are in danger of losing. I tried to recapture a little of that world in the script," said Ross Schwartz. "I'm very excited to work with HighRoad. They are focused on making distinctive movies that have a heart and a soul."
"Ross is a talented writer who impressed Hollywood with his Sundance project Bottle Shock and earlier critically acclaimed short film The Smartest Person Who Ever Lived. Ross has a very unique perspective and has re-envisioned the story of Sunset Blvd to represent Old Hollywood with the contemporary flair of New Hollywood in his script, Looking for Norma Desmond," said David Salzberg, President of High Road Entertainment. "We feel that this script really hits the mark of the classic Hollywood story and look forward to bringing it to the big screen," added Christian Tureaud, Partner at HighRoad Entertainment.
HighRoad Entertainment is currently in pre-production on the film, placing the lead cast.
HighRoad Entertainment's David Salzberg and Christian Tureaud each have over a decades-worth of experience in financing and producing with recent projects including The Perfect Game, Running the Sahara Executive Produced and Narrated by Academy Award-Winner® Matt Damon and Directed by Academy Award-Winner® James Moll, and the Burton Snowboards feature documentary For Right or Wrong. As a company, HighRoad Entertainment has launched a new Sports Entertainment division with three projects already greenlit including just-announced African-American auto racing biopic, Silent Thunder. Other projects in development include Angel of Oxnard, starring Cheech Marin. HighRoad Entertainment aims to produce two to three projects a year that fulfill the company's mission to provide viewers with family-friendly content that emotionally resonates with an audience.
HighRoad Entertainment
The HighRoad Entertainment Group (HREG) is based at Universal City, California. HREG is a full-service entertainment company that produces, distributes, markets, and supports entertainment content in all mediums worldwide. HREG's Principals have produced a number of films and over one hundred episodes of original television content, in addition to creating and developing world-wide brand marketing and advertising campaigns. They also have built a number of multi-tiered entertainment products that are designed for release in all mediums, including new media. The content they have produced has been distributed theatrically and aired on NBC, ABC, TBS, TNT, Fox, USA Network, Fox Sports Net, ABC Family, Telemundo, ESPN, PAX, Animal Planet, as well as more than 20 networks in over 70 countries internationally. www.highroadent.com
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