“Zero Dark Thirty” writer-producer Mark Boal has launched a production company, Page 1, with financial support from Megan Ellison‘s Annapurna Pictures.
Annapurna is an aggressive supporter of talented and fiercely independent filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson, Spike Jonze and “Zero Dark Thirty’s” Kathryn Bigelow.
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Though not a director, Boal, a journalist and two-time Oscar winner, fits into that mold as well. His new company will develop and produce projects based on journalistic stories and reported actual events, much like Boal did with “Zero Dark Thirty” and “The Hurt Locker.”
“There are great stories being told everyday by reporters who dig deep and provide not only great reportage, but insights into who we are as societies, as nations, as people,” Boal said in a statement. “And these are the kinds of stories we want to translate to the big screen.”
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Annapurna will cover the company’s overhead and has a first-look deal with Page 1. Under that deal, Annapurna gets first dibs on financing and producing any film or TV projects Page 1 has in development.
Boal has hired former New York Times Magazine editor Hugo Lindgren and longtime associate Jonathan Leven as executives to help oversee day-to-day development and production.