Hollywood Ventures Group has optioned Namratha Stanley’s memoir “Vineyard Melody” into a film, and the deal was finalized during the Cannes Film Festival.
HVG co-founder Glenn Gaynor met with directors in Cannes as the company set out its development strategy for the project.
The memoir, published by Regalo Press, follows Stanley from more than a decade of domestic violence in Bangalore to the vineyards of Bordeaux. The turning point comes when her husband’s violence nearly kills both her and her daughter. Stanley hops on a plane to France to pursue an MBA, leaves his daughter with his parents while he establishes himself overseas, and eventually launches his own wine label while struggling to get his daughter out of India.
“Understanding her origin story, I realized I was looking at a very strong woman, a very strong human being, a person of conviction, and a beautiful moral compass,” Gaynor says.
Gaynor founded the Screen Gems physical production division at Sony Pictures and has produced three features for Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison label: Strange Wilderness, Grandma’s Boy, and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo. He went on to direct Amazon MGM films such as Being the Ricardos, The Tender Bar, and Red One, for which he won Social Impact Producer of the Year at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. He told Variety that the material shows qualities that are central to the projects HVG pursues.
“I think there’s a sense of urgency to her story,” Gaynor says.
The company has not yet decided whether the project will materialize as a local language production, an international film, or a platform title, and these decisions will be made in collaboration with collaborators.
“As a writer, you want to find a partner who truly connects with the heart of your story,” Stanley says. “When Glenn and I first met in Paris and then traveled to Bordeaux, our conversations solidified the fact that he exactly shared my vision for the film. Hollywood Ventures Group represents the future of storytelling, and I’m extremely proud to trust them with this project.”
HVG was co-founded by Sandy Climan, who serves as Chairman. Mr. Kliman is a former executive vice president at Universal Studios and founding head of CAA’s corporate practice who produced Martin Scorsese’s BAFTA and Golden Globe Award-winning director Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator and served as executive producer on the digital live-action 3D feature U2 3D. The company’s portfolio spans impact-driven projects alongside commercial IP, including representations of the Platinum Universe catalog of over 1,300 comic book characters.
