Samantha Lang Named Head Of Development For Garth Davis’ New Entity I Am That
Samantha Lang (right) has been named Head of Development for producer and director Garth Davis’ newly formed company I Am That. Davis together with See-Saw Films’ joint managing directors Iain Canning and Emile Sherman have a 50/50 partnership, which will develop and produce feature film and television projects for Davis to direct and produce alongside See-Saw’s Canning and Sherman. Samantha Lang will search for and develop film and television projects for Davis to direct. Lang has written, directed and produced both mainstream television programming and award-winning feature films screening at major international festivals, including The Well which was in competition for the Palme D’or in Cannes. She will be based in Sydney working closely with See-Saw’s London and Sydney based teams. Lang is President of the Australian Director’s Guild. Lang said: “It is thrilling to be part of such a promising new venture. I am delighted to be working alongside the brilliant and deeply sensitive Garth Davis, and in the company of Emile Sherman and Iain Canning. This is a wonderful opportunity to broaden my horizons and collaborate on large scale international film and TV projects, with three creatives whose work I admire.”
The Wachsberger Friedman Road
Leads To Rules For Engagement
L-R Patrick Wachsberger & Rob Friedman
Former partners Rob Friedman (Ascendant Entertainment) & Patrick Wachsberger (Picture Perfect Federation) who launched the blockbuster Twilight franchise from the duos’ Summit Entertainment studio, as well as The Hunger Games and Divergent franchises, have joined to acquire the rights to one of this fall’s popular young adult novels Rules for Vanishing written by Kate Alice Marshall. Friedman, Wachsberger and Ashley Stern optioned the rights to Marshall's novel after the material was brought in by their respective executives Sam Speiser and Sera Tabb. Friedman said: “It is not only wonderful to be in business with my good friend and past partner Patrick, but the opportunity to collaborate on the development and production of inspired material such as this brings us both back to working directly with material and telling new stories to a global audience.” Wachsberger added: “We are so happy to have found a YA novel that got us just as excited as the iconic material we pursued in the early days of our partnership. It’s a bonus to work with Rob again, and we can’t wait to move forward on this project together.” Rules for Vanishing is a genre-bending thriller in which 17-year-old Sara and her friends receive a mysterious invitation into the woods to "play the game,” challenged to walk the vanishing road, the stuff of urban legends, unaware of the very real and horrific danger they will face. Rules for Vanishing is author Kate Alice Marshall's second novel, published by Viking Children's in the US and Walker Books in the UK.
