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Oscar-nominated Shape of Water co-writer Vanessa Taylor has found her next project. She has been set to adapt HILLBILLY ELEGY, the movie based on the New York Times bestseller Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance.
Ron Howard is attached to direct the pic and producing with his Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer. Erica Huggins is set to produce.
The memoir is a powerful account of growing up in the Rust Belt and a personal analysis of the white underclass race, and privilege in America. Vance, who was raised poor among working-class “hillbillies” explores his childhood and family struggles as they navigate through addiction, social and economic challenges. Supported by his grandmother, he developed an appreciation for education and laid the foundation for him to be able to rise out of poverty.
Taylor is a writer and co-producer on HBO’s epic Game of Thrones. She also penned the teen dystopian film Divergent and Hope Springs starring Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones. She is represented by ICM Partners.
April Dawn | Editorial Intern
