
EXCLUSIVE: Following a competitive situation, Spotlight and Mr. Robot outfit Anonymous Content and Chapter One, the UK production house launched by Anonymous Content, Casarotto and United Agents, have acquired rights to produce a movie adaptation of new book Breadsong.
The Brit memoir tells the story of bouncy teenager Kitty Tait who overnight becomes overwhelmed by a cloud of depression and anxiety. Seeing his daughter completely withdrawn from the world, Kitty’s dad Al, desperate to help her with her mental health struggles, asked her to bake a loaf of bread with him. One loaf escalated into an obsession and Kitty started to find her way out of the terrible place she was in. Kitty began to take her baking in a whole new direction, eventually opening the Orange Bakery in Oxfordshire with her dad where queues regularly snake down the street. The book also features more than 80 of Kitty’s favorite recipes.
Bloomsbury Publishing published the book in the UK on April 28, 2022, and will publish on May 24, 2022 in the U.S.
Rosalie Swedlin (The Wife) will produce for Anonymous Content and Sophie Gardiner will produce for Chapter One. AC Studios’ Robert Walak (War & Peace) will oversee production of the film.
The project marks Chapter One’s first foray into feature development and production in partnership with AC Studios, the film and TV production studio that sits inside Anonymous Content.
Jane Finigan at Lutyens & Rubenstein represented the book for publishing and Casarotto’s Emma Obank repped the film/TV rights.
“You can’t help but be inspired by Kitty and Al’s life-changing journey throughout Breadsong,“ said Anonymous CEO Dawn Olmstead. “Mental health impacts so many of our lives and it’s not always obvious how we can help our loved ones navigate these often silent challenges. Kitty and Al’s story is one of slow, small triumphs, incredible bravery, and the beautiful father daughter relationship that together helped Kitty find her way back not only to her family but to herself. We are honored to be able to tell this incredible story with Sophie and Chapter One.”
“I am delighted to be developing Chapter One’s first feature film with Anonymous Content – and couldn’t be happier that we all fell in love with this wonderful book to be our first feature collaboration,” commented Sophie Gardiner, Managing Director, of Chapter One Productions. “It’s such a tender, uplifting, wonderful story that I cannot wait to help bring it to the screen.”
Kitty and Al Tait added: “We’re so excited about the idea of Breadsong becoming a film, but it’s quite scary too. It’s our whole life and our personal story so handing that over to others could have been quite nerve-wracking. But we knew right away we would be safe with Anonymous Content and Chapter One Productions. They made a real effort to understand what Breadsong is all about. They talked to us, watched (and loved!) Kit’s animated Instagram posts, and actually came to Watlington to eat our bread! We trust them implicitly. Now the hardest part will be casting Scout the corgi.”
AC Studios is currently in production on Foe, starring Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal and Aaron Pierre as well as the eight-part psychological drama Saint X, from writer Leila Gerstein and director Dee Rees.