'August: Osage County' to Become Feature Film

The lead producing team of August: Osage County on Broadway has acquired the feature film rights of the multiple Tony Award -winning play.  Film and theatre Production Company Jean Doumanian Productions will produce the highly anticipated project along with Steve Traxler.   Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel will executive produce.  Playwright Tracy Letts, who won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for August, has signed on to write the adapted script.
 
The winner of five 2008 Tony Awards, including Best Play,  and the 2008 Pulitzer Prize, the critically acclaimed August premiered in summer of 2007 at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre and moved to Broadway in December 2007.  

"We are thrilled to be developing August: Osage County into a feature film, while continuing to support the play's success on Broadway," said film and theatre producer Jean Doumanian.  "Of course, it is also very exciting that the brilliant Tracy Letts will be writing the adaptation."
 
The national tour of August launches in Summer 2009.  August will also begin an eight week engagement at London's National Theatre in November 2008.Based in New York City, Jean Doumanian Productions produces works for film and theatre. Under the leadership of Ms. Doumanian, the company has produced films by David Mamet (The Spanish Prisoner), David Gordon Green (All the Real Girls), Woody Allen (Bullets Over Broadway, Everyone Says I Love You, Mighty Aphrodite, Deconstructing Harry, Sweet and Lowdown, Celebrity, and Small Time Crooks), Barbara Kopple (Wild Man Blues), and Jason Alexander (Just Looking). The company's productions have been nominated for multiple Academy Awards and Golden Globes, including Sven Nykvist's The Ox, which was nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign language film. Currently, Jean Doumanian Productions is a lead producer on August: Osage County on Broadway. Written by Tracy Letts, August won five 2008 Tony Awards including Best Play and earned the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. The company's other Broadway credits include Tom Stoppard's Jumpers, Michael Frayn's Democracy, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune and Amour, and Off-Broadway highlights include The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Fuddy Meers, Bat Boy the Musical, Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight, Dinah Was, and Death Defying Acts. Steve Traxler is President and Co-Founder of JAM Theatricals, a Chicago entertainment company that operates Broadway subscription series in 35 markets throughout North America and has presented almost all of the major touring productions including Hairspray, Stomp, Chicago, Les Miserables,The Producers, Cats, Mamma Mia!, Riverdance, and Miss. Saigon.    Steve oversees the company's producing efforts on Broadway and is the recipient of four Tony Awards for producing  This season he served as a lead producer of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning August: Osage County written by Tracy Letts.  Additonal Tony Award winning productions include The History Boys (Best Play, 2006), Monty Python's Spamalot (Best Musical, 2005), and Glengarry Glen Ross (Best Revival of a Play, 2005) in which he also served as lead producer .  Additional Broadway credits include Tony-nominated productions of Rock 'N' Roll (2008), The Seafarer (2008), Talk Radio (2007), The Wedding Singer (2006), The Retreat from Moscow (2004) and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (2003).  Upcoming:  David Mamet's Speed the Plow, Neil LaButes Reasons to be Pretty and Bob Falls revival of Desire Under the Elms.  Steve is a member of The Broadway League and sits on numerous philanthropic boards in Chicago including Gateway Green in which he serves as Vice-Chairman and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Goodman Theatre.

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