NEW YORK CITY—Jerrick Media Holdings, Inc. and Maven Pictures today announced their new scripted television series about the life of Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione and the many women in his life, as reported in Variety. Executive producers for the project are Jerrick's founders Rick Schwartz (The Departed, Black Swan) and Jeremy Frommer (Till Human Voices Wake Us, Filthy Gorgeous: The Bob Guccione Story) and Maven Pictures founders Trudie Styler (Freak Show, Snatch) and Celine Rattray (Novitiate, Still Alice).
Currently in development, the series details Guccione’s humble beginnings as a struggling artist and cartoonist in London in the 1950s, through to the hugely successful launch of Penthouse and the media empire that resulted from its glossy, soft-focused aesthetic.
“Bob Guccione was more of an intellectual,” Schwartz told Variety. “He was a complicated guy.”
Though Guccione was generally presumed to be misogynistic, the show will explore the fact that in real life, Guccione was actually the exact opposite. Spanning 30 years, the project will be shown through the eyes of the many women in his life.
Guccione came onto Jerrick Media’s radar after co-founder Jeremy Frommer bought a group of storage lockers out of auction in New Jersey. The partners spent the next three years buying up Guccione’s personal effects, including his personal manuscripts and slides, several of which will be used in the series.
Jerrick’s first foray into the world of Bob Guccione was Filthy Gorgeous: The Bob Guccione Story, produced by Barry Avrich and Jerrick Media. The film premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. Filthy Gorgeous is available online here.
Jerrick co-founder Rick Schwartz stated, “Penthouse founder Bob Guccione was an incredibly successful, complicated, and larger than life media mogul. We’re looking forward to collaborating with Maven Pictures on a scripted TV series that tells the story of this amazing, misunderstood man and all of the brilliant, beautiful women in his life.”
Jerrick intends to include additional detail regarding the Guccione series in a President’s Letter updating the investment community on the company’s recent developments, which will be provided on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission shortly.
Celine Rattray, co-founder of Maven Pictures added, “We are happy to work with Jerrick on a project that intimately explores a man through the complex lens of the women in his life and look forward to sharing the finished product.”
"Given the amount of skin and sex in Guccione’s life, it’s a safe bet that the series won’t be on broadcast television," Variety reported, adding Schwartz's assessment that, “The plan is to do it on cable, Amazon, Netflix or somewhere where we can do it uncensored.”
Maven Pictures has previously produced The Kids Are All Right, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. Their other producing credits include Bernie starring Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine; Grace Is Gone, starring John Cusack; and Filth, starring James McAvoy and Jamie Bell. In 2016, Maven produced the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize winner American Honey, directed by Andrea Arnold, starring Shia Labeouf (A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Fury) and Sasha Lane. Freak Show, based on James St. James’ best-selling novel and the directorial debut for Trudie Styler, premiered at Berlinale in 2017 to a sold-out crowd of 1,000 viewers. Freak Show stars Alex Lawther (The Imitation Game, Departure), Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine, Zombieland), and Bette Midler (Beaches, The First Wives Club). Also released early in 2017 was Novitiate, directed by Maggie Betts and starring Margaret Qualley and Melissa Leo, which premiered at Sundance and was bought by Sony Classic Pictures. Arriving this year is the thriller Wilding, directed by Fritz Bohm and starring Bel Powley and Liv Tyler.
For more information please visit Jerrick.media.
