Pacific Electric Picture Co.’s Ed Helms and Mike Falbo to Produce
Good Universe has bought a comedy pitch from Emmy® nominated writer/director Jonathan Krisel (BASKETS, MAN SEEKING WOMAN, PORTLANDIA, KROLL SHOW, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE) and Emmy® nominated writer Graham Wagner (BASKETS, PORTLANDIA) based on Lydia Millet’s brilliant satirical novel ‘MERMAIDS IN PARADISE’.
Marking feature film debuts for both, Krisel is set to direct and Wagner will write the screenplay. Pacific Electric Picture Co.’s Ed Helms and Mike Falbo will produce alongside Danica Radovanov and Krisel. Nathan Kahane and Joe Drake of Good Universe will executive produce. Spencer Wong, who brought the project to the company, will oversee for Good Universe.
“We can’t imagine a better team coming together to adapt this fantastic property,” Good Universe co-founder Kahane said. “We’re thrilled to be working on Jonathan and Graham’s first feature project after so much success in television, and Danica, Ed and Mike make the perfect team to help bring their vision to the big screen.”
In this hilarious sendup of the American honeymoon, MERMAIDS IN PARADISE tells the story of a couple who discover the existence of mermaids while celebrating their marriage in a tropical paradise.
In addition to their Emmy® nominated work on PORTLANDIA, Krisel and Wagner will next collaborate on BASKETS, the upcoming Zach Galifianakis/Louis C.K. show for FX that debuts in 2016.
Krisel is represented by UTA and Mosaic. Wagner is represented by Mosaic and ICM. Helms is represented by UTA and Principato-Young Entertainment. Millet is represented by RWSG Literary on behalf of Lippincott Massie Mcquilkin. Dan Freedman negotiated the deals for Good Universe.
ABOUT PACIFIC ELECTRIC PICTURE CO.
Pacific Electric Picture Co. is a TV and film production company founded by Ed Helms and Mike Falbo in 2012. The company is prepping the “Jake & Amir” pilot, based on the popular web series from Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld, for TruTV, as well as working on an animated project with Robert Padnick at Comedy Central. On the feature side, Pacific Electric is developing a number of features, including a project at Lionsgate. Ed Helms will be starring in VACATION for New Line/Warner Bros. this summer and also starring in the upcoming Starz series “The One Percent,” co-created by Alejandro González Iñárritu.
ABOUT GOOD UNIVERSE
Good Universe is a leading motion picture production and global sales company. Founded by Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane in 2012, the company’s feature slate includes: NEIGHBORS 2, the follow-up to the smash hit NEIGHBORS to be directed by Nick Stoller and starring Seth Rogen, Zac Efron and Rose Byrne for Universal; THE HOUSE with Gary Sanchez Productions starring Will Ferrell for New Line; Jonathan Levine’s UNTITLED XMAS COMEDY starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rogen, and Anthony Mackie for Sony Pictures; the UNTITLED BEN SCHWARTZ COMEDY with Gary Sanchez Productions and Point Grey to be directed by Adam McKay and starring Rogen; the sci-fi romance DEPARTURE to be directed by David Frankel and written by Billy Ray; FOREVER INTERRUPTED with Gidden Media starring Dakota Johnson; the sci-fi thriller EXTINCTION to be directed by Joe Johnston, written by Spenser Cohen and produced by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman; the UNTITLED R-RATED COMEDY written by Brian and James Kehoe and produced by Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg; and LOST IN AUSTEN with Neal Street Productions and Sony Pictures. Previous productions include CBS Films’ hit comedy LAST VEGAS which featured the Academy Award®-winning cast of Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline. The slate for Ghost House Pictures, Drake and Kahane’s partnership with Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, includes: POLTERGEIST for MGM and Fox 2000; Fede Alvarez’s A MAN IN THE DARK for Sony; and the live-action adaptation of the videogame THE LAST OF US for Screen Gems.
