EXCLUSIVE: Black Box Management has signed Nick August-Perna, the filmmaker behind the buzzy true crime doc Tell Them You Love Me, which topped Netflix’s film charts in its February debut.
Hitting #1 on Netflix’s Top 10 Movies, the film tells the true story of Anna Stubblefield, an esteemed professor involved in a controversial affair with Derrick Johnson, a non-verbal man with cerebral palsy. Their relationship eventually led to a criminal trial challenging perceptions of disability and nature of consent.
Black Box and August-Perna are teaming to produce a scripted remake of the film, the hope being to replica the success of much-discussed true-crime projects like I, Tonya, The Act, and The Girl from Plainville.
In a statement to Deadline, Black Box’s founding partners Mike Dill and Lowell Shapiro shared, “When we first saw Nick’s incredible film TELL THEM YOU LOVE ME, we knew that he was someone we had to represent. Nick’s storytelling capability and his ability to meld traditional elements of genre filmmaking with documentary truly help elevate his work in deeply satisfying ways to audience members. We strive to be a place that enables filmmakers to achieve their creative and professional ambitions.”
The manager-producers added that they’re “excited to add Nick to our dynamic roster of directors which includes Michael B. Nichols, who also scored a #1 with THE PERFECT WIFE on Hulu earlier this year.”
An award-winning director, producer, and editor, August-Perna prior to Tell Them You Love Me helmed The Oxy Kingpins, a documentary telling the untold story of how a network of pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, and retailers worked together to orchestrate and perpetuate America’s opioid crisis. Aiming to present stories that challenge the shape and power of the documentary form, to inspire discourse, and build empathy, he’s seen his work nominated at the Emmys, the Duponts, and the Academy Awards.
Founded by CAA veteran Dill and WME alum Shapiro, who met as kids at summer camp, Black Box reps a diverse roster of writers, directors, actors, comedians, documentarians and creators across film, television, digital and branded content. Other notable clients include John Patton Ford (Emily the Criminal, Huntington), Tone Bell (Trigger Warning, Survival of the Thickest), Harper Dill (Marry Me, Dollface), Lisa Cortes (Little Richard: I Am Everything), Luke Korem (Milli Vanilli), Reza Aslan (Believer) and Nichols (The Perfect Wife), to name just a few.
Dill and Shapiro produced the thriller Stowaway, starring Ruby Rose and Frank Grillo, and served as exec producers on Ford’s acclaimed crime thriller Emily the Criminal, starring Aubrey Plaza. Currently, the latter is being adapted as a series for Legendary Entertainment, with Ford to write, direct and exec produce alongside Plaza and Tyler Davidson.
