PRESS UPDATE : THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER .. JANUARY 29TH 2025 ..

 

John Gore Studios Launches With Hilary Strong as CEO and Joan Collins Project..

British-born Gore, a two-time Emmy and Olivier award winner, will serve as executive chairman of John Gore studios and Strong, previously CEO of Agatha Christie Ltd, will run the company out of London.

By Lily Ford

Joan as Wallis Simpson for Life Magazine 1985

John Gore Studios, a new film and TV production studio headquartered in London, has on Wednesday officially launched and appointed industry veteran Hilary Strong as CEO.

British-born Gore, a two-time Emmy and Olivier award winner, will serve as executive chairman of John Gore Studios. He has tapped Strong as CEO, an exec in the literary and entertainment sectors whose previous endeavors include chief at Agatha Christie Ltd and commercial director at Hat Trick productions.

John Gore Studios, with additional offices in New York, will adopt a “strategic approach to film and TV that mirrors the highly successful methods used for theater” by the John Gore Organization, a comprehensive family of media companies, which includes Broadway Across America, Broadway.com, The Broadway Channel, BroadwayBox.com, and Group Sales Box Office. Gore is a 22-time Tony award winner.

John Gore Studios is already set for production on two new features: The Bitter End (working title) will be directed by multi-award-winning director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) and penned by screenwriter and novelist Louise Fennell. The film stars Joan Collins as Wallis Simpson, the American divorcee who became the Duchess of Windsor after marrying King Edward VIII, the British King who chose love over duty, in the shocking untold story of her final years.

The film will be produced by Gore, Richard Holmes and Francis Hopkinson and executive produced by Strong and Michael Foster. Filming is set to begin May 2025.

Collins added: “I am thrilled about the challenge of playing this iconic woman in a previously untold story and to be in John Gore Studios’ initial roster of what I’m sure will be a very successful endeavour.”

The Bitter End (working title) will be directed by multi-award-winning director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) and penned by screenwriter and novelist Louise Fennell. The film stars Golden Globe winner Joan Collins as Wallis Simpson, the American divorcee who became the Duchess of Windsor after marrying King Edward VIII, the British King who chose love over duty, in the shocking untold story of her final years.

Joan Collins says, “I am thrilled about the challenge of playing this iconic woman in a previously untold story and to be in John Gore Studios’ initial roster of what I’m sure will be a very successful endeavour.”

The film will be produced by John Gore, Richard Holmes and Francis Hopkinson and executive produced by Hilary Strong and Michael Foster. Filming is set to begin May 2025.