The life stories of Joan and Jackie Collins is to be told in a new drama series from UK-based indie Fable Pictures, producers of the BAFTA-nominated Stan & Ollie biopic.
Backed by Sony Pictures Television the firm is headed by BAFTA nominated Faye Ward (Suffragette) and has secured the TV rights to the life stories of two of Britain’s most famous sisters.
The series will follow the two sisters on their pathways to fame, each carving out longstanding careers, Joan as an actress and Jackie as an author, proving that women can indeed be in the driving seat of their own lives.
Dame Joan Collins won one of the last studio contracts in Hollywood’s Golden Age. As 20th Century Fox’s new ingenue she went on to star in countless films and television series with all of the Hollywood Greats, including her era-defining role as Alexis Carrington in the US TV series Dynasty.
Her charity work was recognised with a Damehood, adding to the Order of the British Empire she received in 1996 for her services to drama.
Jackie Collins, who was also awarded an OBE, joined big sister Joan in Los Angeles and eventually began to write novels inspired by her experiences and her astutely observant eye.
She created a new kick ass heroine – strong, seductive, and powerful and reinvented women’s fiction. In 1982 she received a record-breaking $1million advance for her novel Hollywood Wives.
Jackie Collins went on to write thirty-two New York Times bestselling novels, selling more than 500 million books around the world in a trail blazing career that spanned decades. In the 1970s Joan starred in two films based on her sister’s novels “The Stud” and “The Bitch”.
The six-hour series will be produced by Fable Pictures and distributed globally by Sony Pictures Television. Executive Producers are Caroline Harvey, Faye Ward (The Crown series 1, Suffragette, Stan & Ollie) and Hannah Farrell (Suffragette, Jane Eyre). Award-winning playwright Penelope Skinner (The Village Bike, Linda) will pen the series.
The Emmy award-winning casting director Nina Gold (The Crown, Star Wars Episodes VII, VIII & IX, Game of Thrones) is also on board to cast the series.
Dame Joan Collins said: “I am delighted that such a prestigious team wants to tell our story, and I know my sister Jackie would be as excited as I am to be involved!”
Jackie Collins Daughters said: “We are delighted that Faye, Caroline and Sony Pictures Television will be producing the remarkable story of our mother and our aunt and their rise to stardom.
“Our mother always told us when we were growing up that ‘Girls can do anything!’ and Joan & Jackie will fabulously depict how true that is!”.
Penelope Skinner commented: “I am thrilled to be working on the fascinating story of these fabulous, iconic and powerful women.
“There is far more to Joan and Jackie than diamonds and shoulder pads: these are two very special sisters whose lives are both aspirational and inspirational”.
Faye Ward/ Caroline Harvey said: “This is a dream project for us. We are delighted that the Collins’ family have entrusted us with this empowering story about two exceptional sisters who challenged the status quo, set their hearts on their wildest Hollywood dreams and achieved them on their own terms”.