The connection between Alexander McQueen and Isabella Blow — famed enfants terribles of the early 90s trend world — is about to be delivered to the display in a brand new brief movie starring Russell Tovey and Olivia Colman.
“Wild Bird” is being directed by acclaimed Brit filmmaker Andrew Haigh (“All of Us Strangers,” “45 Years,” “Weekend”), will see Tovey play the late clothier McQueen and Colman play Blow, the style editor credited with discovering him. Blow would function a mentor and muse for McQueen as his profession rose, however their relationship fell aside when McQueen turned head designer at Givenchy and didn’t land her a place on the trend home. When she dedicated suicide in 2007, he devoted his subsequent present to her.
The movie — written by Tovey — comes from WePresent, the Oscar profitable arts platform of WeTransfer, and is produced by HATO Footage.
“Wild Bird” sees Blow (Colman) take McQueen (Tovey) on an imagined highway journey looking for emotional redemption — a brand new and interpretive strategy to one among trend’s most storied relationships. Principal images will start this June within the U.Okay.
“I’ve had a lifelong fascination with Alexander McQueen, his artistry and persona on and off the runway and the way he carried himself has been endlessly inspiring,” mentioned Tovey. “As an actor he’s a man I’ve always wanted to portray and as a writer he’s a character I’ve longed to get under the skin of. The friendship between Isabella and Lee is beautifully tragic and endlessly compelling. It’s an honour to write about one of my heroes and I couldn’t be prouder of the team that we have assembled to bring this story to life.”
“Wild Bird” is produced by BAFTA profitable producer Susie Corridor. Haigh and Tovey function govt producers alongside Holly Fraser and Alex Mattinson of WeTransfer. Three-time Academy Award and three-time BAFTA profitable costume designer Sandy Powell is on board for costuming. Along with govt producing and starring, Tovey is credited as screenwriter.
Haigh was hooked up to direct a biopic about McQueen introduced by Pathe in 2016, with Jack O’Connell set to play the designer. Nonetheless, that mission subsequently stalled.
WeTransfer, via its arts platform WePresent, has commissioned brief movies which have performed at movie festivals and received awards. Their brief movie fee “The Long Goodbye” with Riz Ahmed and director Aneil Karia received the Academy Award in 2022 for Finest Reside Motion Quick Movie. Animated brief “The Brown Dog,” starring Michael Okay. Williams in his ultimate function, and govt produced by Steve Buscemi, Idris Elba and Chiwetel Ejiofor, was an Official Collection of the 2024 Tribeca Movie Pageant. Most not too long ago, they launched political satire “Vote Gavin Lyle,” directed by Aneil Karia and starring Jack Lowden.
“Wild Bird” is the newest inventive collaboration between WeTransfer and Tovey following his visitor curatorship of the WePresent platform in 2023. Their collaborations included a collection of commissions spotlighting the works of LGBTQIA+ artists together with “Life Is Excellent,” a take a look at the lifetime of late artist David Robilliard which was WePresent’s first feature-length documentary.
