Angelina Jolie Signs Powerful Media Deal With Britain's Fremantle

Oscar winner, humanitarian and international activist Angelina Jolie has signed a three-year deal with Fremantle to make feature films, documentaries and series for the British TV giant.

Under the three-year agreement, which commences immediately, Jolie and Fremantle will jointly develop a sophisticated, powerful, and internationally focused slate of feature films, documentaries, and original series in which she will produce, direct, and/or star – based on each individual project.

Angelina Jolie and Fremantle share a global perspective on important storytelling, championing underserved and diverse voices from across the world.

All parties in the deal and all press reports stress the synergy that exists between Jolie and Freemantle.

The London-based company describes itself as “a world leader in creating, producing and distributing content. [In their own words] We are an independent group of talents, studios and producers, content makers, creative incubators, culture shapers and game changers, operating in 26 territories across the world.”

Under the deal, Jolie will produce and direct the feature film ‘Without Blood’, commencing this May in Italy. The actor adapted the script from the acclaimed international bestselling novel by Alessandro Baricco – praised as an unforgettable narrative about war, revenge, memory, and healing.

Jolie has been attached to ‘Without Blood’ since 2017, the year she delivered ‘First They Killed My Father’, adapted from Khmer Rouge survivor Loung Ung’s memoir. Jolie’s showing as a director with her 2014 film ‘Unbroken’ was highly-praised and also controversial.

In the story ‘Unbroken’, the American prisoner of war, Louis Zamperini, is sent to Naoetsu, a Japanese camp in a quiet coastal town.

Starved and beaten by a sadistic camp guard, Zamperini barely survived his days in the camp. Not only did he live but he worked closely with Jolie on the development of the 2014 film until his death that year at age 97.

‘Unbroken’ hit major headwinds by a right-wing campaign in Japan that branded it “anti-Japanese”. Nationalists call the depiction of Japanese soldiers in the movie “racist” and accused Angelina Jolie of hating Japan.

Jolie’s directorial debut was the 2011 film ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’, a tale of love and war in 1990s Bosnia. Jolie wrote the screenplay, based on the horrors she witnessed firsthand during her work for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Over a decade later, Angelina Jolie continues her UN work with refugees, and it’s believes that she will bring stories attached to her UN work to her deal with Fremantle.

“To have the freedom to tell important stories and bring them to a global audience is at the heart of this agreement with Fremantle,” said Jolie. “I am excited to be working with such a passionate and forward-looking team that has an international perspective.”

The stellar talent line-up currently working with Fremantle on film and drama projects includes Luca Guadagnino, Michael Winterbottom, Sir Kenneth Branagh, Tebogo Malope, Kirill Serebrennikov, Afua Hirsch, Felix van Groeningen, Shira Haas, Alice Rohrwacher, Saverio Costanzo and Steven Knight to name just a few.