1492, ro*co to partner on photos

Chris Columbus' 1492 Pictures is joining up with ro*co prods., the development arm of ro*co films intl. to evolve documentary films into feature dramas. First pic underneath the arrangement is going to be Yoav Potash's award-winning doc "Crime After Crime," which opened finally year's Sundance Film Festival."Crime" follows two youthful lawyers because they fight a constant fight to free Darlene Peagler from prison two decades after she was sentenced to existence in jail on her role within the murder from the guy who mistreated her. Pic, which in fact had its TV debut on The famous host oprah Winfrey's OWN network last fall, gained 15 major honours such as the Freedom of Expression Award in the National Board of Review."We're very looking forward to dealing with ro*co and Yoav to evolve 'Crime After Crime' right into a dramatic feature film," stated 1492 Pictures prexy Michael Barnathan. "This remarkable documentary has great potential like a narrative feature film. We've made films that started as ideas, books, plays, and scripts. While this is our first documentary-to-dramatic-feature adaptation project, we certainly hope it's not our last. ro*co comes with an uncanny capability to find and attract great documentary works and filmmakers." "At ro*co, we use our filmmakers to increase possibilities for his or her documentary films," stated Annie Roney, founder and controlling director of ro*co films intl. "This is exactly why we've close ties with tv stations in america and abroad, plus an educational division to produce a different type of box office in classes as well as on college grounds across the nation. Choosing the best partner to evolve these documentary stories towards the giant screen was our next mission. Dealing with 1492 Pictures, we all know these real existence tales will end up celebrated movies."The offer was discussed by Sue Turley for ro*co films worldwide and Barnathan for 1492 Pictures.ro*co films has four films at Sundance including "The Atomic States of America," "The Invisible War," "What The Law States during these Parts" and "We are Not Broke." Contact Shaun Sneider at shaun.sneider@variety.com