“The Crown” star Vanessa Kirby and her production company Aluna Entertainment have set a multiyear first-look film deal with Netflix, the streamer said Tuesday.
Kirby is partnering with former Film4 senior executive Lauren Dark to develop and produce a slate of feature films with a focus on projects that explore the spectrum of the female experience and aim to make high-end engrossing stories with universal appeal.
Kirby has worked with Netflix closely on their hit series “The Crown” and was also Oscar-nominated for her work in the Netflix drama “Pieces of a Woman” released last year. The film premiered at Venice and won Kirby the Volpi Cup prize for Best Actress at the festival.
“It has long been a dream of mine to produce and I have found the perfect partners in my friends at Netflix,” Vanessa Kirby said in a statement. “They have been an inspiring creative home for me from ‘The Crown’ to ‘Pieces of a Woman’ and I am thrilled to be on this journey alongside them. In Lauren I’ve found a true ally and we are united in our ambition to explore stories that relate to the uncharted female experience.”
“Vanessa is an extraordinary artist and I’m excited to be joining her and our new partners at Netflix on this journey,” Dark said in a statement. “We share a passion for telling untold stories in their most ambitious and dynamic form. It has been an enormous privilege to be at Film4 for the past four years with such a talented and supportive team, alongside some of the very best filmmakers.”
“Vanessa has delivered powerful and unforgettable performances as an actor and we know that she will equally captivate audiences with her creative vision as a producer,” David Kosse, VP of International Original Films, Netflix, said. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to work with her and the team at Aluna to bring their films to our members around the world.”
Kirby is in production on Florian Zeller’s “The Son,” in which she stars with Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern. After that, she will start production on Thomas Bidegain’s “Suddenly” opposite Jake Gyllenhaal. She’s also shooting the next installment of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise.
Lauren Dark joins from Film4, where she oversaw development and production on a number of films. Her credits include Zeller’s “The Father,” Rebecca Hall’s “Passing” and more. Prior to Film4, Dark worked in production and development in independent production companies for a decade, including Ken Loach and Rebecca O’Brien’s Sixteen Films. She produced Michael Pearce’s debut “Beast” starring Jessie Buckley and Johnny Flynn for which she won a BAFTA with Pearce in 2019.
The London-based production company also teams with co-Founder Martin Ledwith and development executive Juliet Kirby. Kirby is represented by CAA, Hamilton Hodell, Linden Entertainment and Narrative and Ziffren Brittenham.
