Projects in development include live-action comedy feature at Sony based on toymaker Mattel’s popular doll, Barbie.
Parkes/MacDonald Productions and Image Nation Abu Dhabi have announced the extension of their joint venture with a new five-year deal.
In conjunction with the new agreement, film executive Evan Hayes has been appointed President of Production at Parkes/Macdonald. Hayes was previously at Story Mining & Supply Co., where he oversaw original Starz series Outlander, war drama The Yellow Birds and crime thriller The Fence. Prior to that, he served at Working Title Films, where he worked on such projects as Frost/Nixon, The Interpreter and Love Actually.
The Parkes+Macdonald/Image Nation partnership is developing a number of independent and studio projects, including a live-action comedy feature based on Barbie, the most successful girls’ toy line in history, which being produced at Sony Pictures with Mattel.
Films produced or executive-produced by Parkes & MacDonald include Gladiator, Amistad, Men In Black I & II, Minority Report, The Mask Of Zorro, Catch Me If You Can, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Terminal, Road to Perdition, The Ring, The Kite Runner, and Stephen Sondheim’s musical thriller, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Check out the full press release, shown below:
LOS ANGELES, CA -- Parkes/MacDonald Productions and Image Nation Abu Dhabi have announced the extension of their joint venture with a new five-year deal.
As a result of this expansion, Evan Hayes has been appointed President of Production at Parkes/Macdonald. In his new role, Hayes will oversee the company’s large slate of feature film projects as well as supervise all aspects of production and creative development.
The new five-year deal extends and expands on the relationship between the two entities, which began in 2010 with a $10 million revolving financing fund which gave the production company the opportunity to acquire and develop a slate of projects at a time when the U.S. studios were cutting back on development spending. The relationship expanded in 2012 when Parkes+MacDonald/Image Nation was formed, a new joint which built on the fund by providing overhead and a first-look deal to develop, acquire and produce projects.
The next Parkes+Macdonald/Image Nation project is the untitled feature length documentary about Malala Yousafzai directed by Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth). This follows the box-office hits Flight and Men in Black 3. Next up is Keeping Up with the Joneses, written by Mike Lesieur, which the partnership developed through their $10 million fund, and is now slated for production at Fox 2000 with Greg Mottola (Superbad) directing and Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) and Isla Fisher (The Great Gatsby) starring.
The Parkes+Macdonald/Image Nation partnership is also developing a number of other independent and studio projects, including a live-action comedy feature based on Barbie, the most successful girls’ toy line in history, which being produced with Mattel at Sony Pictures.
Other projects in production or pre-production for Parkes/MacDonald include NBC’s The Slap, which is currently shooting in Brooklyn, NY, and Paramount’s Ring 3 with director F. Javier Gutierrez (Before the Fall), slated to begin principal photography in Atlanta in early March.
“We’ve worked with Walter and Laurie for a number of years now and the new deal is the natural extension of our great partnership. In joining the team, Evan brings a wealth of experience in independent productions, which will allow us to broaden our focus,” said Michael Garin, CEO of Image Nation Abu Dhabi. “The Parkes/Macdonald team will continue to work closely with us in Abu Dhabi, bringing their creative vision and expertise to bear on our local productions. We look forward to the release of the Malala documentary next year and to developing and producing more exciting projects in the future.”
Hayes was most recently partner and the President of Production at Story Mining & Supply Co. While at Story Mining, he oversaw a large slate of projects, including the Starz original series Outlander, the war drama The Yellow Birds, the true crime thriller The Fence, and the St-Cyr & Kohler series from author J. Robert Janes.
In addition, Hayes developed and is an executive producer of Everest for Universal Pictures and Working Title Films. The film is currently in postproduction and will be released by Universal in September, 2015. Baltasar Kormakur (The Deep, Contraband, Jar City) directed the film, which stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Keira Knightley, Robin Wright and Sam Worthington, from a script by Simon Beaufoy & Bill Nicholson.
Prior to joining Story Mining & Supply, Hayes was a longtime executive at Working Title Films where he worked on such films as Contraband, Tinker Tailor Solider Spy, Paul, United 93, Atonement, Pride & Prejudice, Definitely Maybe, State of Play, Green Zone, Senna, Burn After Reading, A Serious Man, Frost/Nixon, The Interpreter and Love Actually.
“I have long admired Walter and Laurie's impeccable taste and diverse interest in material, and I am thrilled to be working with them at Parkes/MacDonald,” Hayes said. “We have the shared desire to produce character driven material with visionary filmmakers across a multitude of genres, and the support of Image Nation Abu Dhabi will only enhance us in our efforts to bring these types of films to life.”
“We are thrilled to add such an experienced and successful film executive to our team,” Parkes noted. “Evan has worked closely with some of the strongest creative talent in town. His relationships and expertise will be invaluable here in the coming years.”
Source: Parkes+Macdonald/Image Nation
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
