Black Bear Pictures and Mad Chance have set Diana Nyad’s best-selling autobiography Find a Way for feature film adaptation, with plans to commence production this summer. Academy Award, BAFTA and Emmy Award winning duo Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (Free Solo) are set to direct Nyad, marking their narrative directorial debut.
Four-time Academy Award nominated Annette Bening (20th Century Women, The Kids Are All Right) is starring. The screenplay was written by Emmy Award winner Ann Biderman (“Ray Donovan”) with current revisions by Black List scribe Julia Cox (upcoming Do No Harm). Mad Chance’s Andrew Lazar (American Sniper) and Black Bear Pictures’ Teddy Schwarzman (I Care a Lot, The Imitation Game) developed and will produce.
CAA Media Finance is currently shopping the hot package to domestic buyers during the virtual EFM, and STXinternational is handling foreign rights.
Described as “Life-affirming…A story about refusing to accept, or be defined by, defeat” (The New York Times Book Review), Find a Way inspired the script which follows the fantastic true story of swimmer Diana Nyad who, at age 64, assisted by her best friend and crew of 35 dedicated supporters, defied the odds to become the first person to complete the 110-mile journey from Cuba to Florida, through poisonous jellyfish and shark-infested waters.
Bening, nominated for four Academy Awardsthroughout her prolific career, is best known for roles including American Beauty, The Grifters, The Kids Are All Right, 20th Century Women, The Seagull, and The Report
Vasarhelyi and Chin won the Academy Award for ‘Best Documentary Feature’, and a BAFTA for ‘Best Documentary’ for their 2018 documentary Free Solo, which also nabbed two Emmy Awards. The duo co-directed and produced the doc, with Chin also serving as Director of Photography and appearing in the film.
Bening and Nyad are repped by CAA. Vasarhelyi and Chin, who recently signed with CAA for scripted projects, are also represented by WME and attorney Peter Nichols. Cox is represented by APA, manager Allison Doyle and Ziffren Brittenham.
