COUNTRY MUSIC STARTS PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPH

BACK COUNTRY MUSIC STARTS PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHLENSING BEGINS IN GLASGOW AND NASHVILLE

JESSIE BUCKLEY AND AWARD WINNING JULIE WALTERS TO STAR

TOM HARPER TO DIRECT

OSCAR NOMINEE SOPHIE OKONEDO AND JAMES HARKNESS JOIN CAST

London, 10 July 2017 - Principal photography has commenced on comedy drama COUNTRY MUSIC, starring Jessie Buckley ("Taboo," "War & Peace") and BAFTA Award winning and two time Oscar nominee Julie Walters (BILLY ELLIOT, upcoming PADDINGTON 2), it was announced today by producer Faye Ward of Fable Pictures.

Oscar nominated and Tony Award winning actress Sophie Okonedo (HOTEL RWANDA), who has just come off the West End production of Edward Albee s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia, and James Harkness (ROGUE ONE, MACBETH) have also joined the cast.

BAFTA Award nominee Tom Harper ("War & Peace," "Peaky Blinders") is directing the feature film from a script by Nicole Taylor ("The C Word," "Three Girls").

Shooting in Glasgow, Scotland and Nashville, Tennessee, Entertainment One (eOne) secured worldwide rights to the project.

COUNTRY MUSIC is funded by the BFI and Creative Scotland with National Lottery money and Film4, all of whom developed the film with Fable Pictures. Faye Ward produces for Fable Pictures with Eugenio Perez as co-producer.

Executive producers include Natascha Wharton for the BFI, Leslie Finlay for Creative Scotland, Polly Stokes for Film4 and Xavier Marchand for Moonriver Content.

Rose-Lynn Harlan (Jessie Buckley) is bursting with raw talent, charisma and cheek. Fresh out of jail and with two young kids, all she wants is to get out of Glasgow and make it as a country singer. Her mum Marion (Julie Walters) has had a bellyful of Rose-Lynn s Nashville nonsense. Forced to take responsibility, Rose-Lynn gets a cleaning job, only to find an unlikely champion in the middle-class lady of the house (Sophie Okonedo). A comedy drama about mothers and daughters, dreams and reality, and three chords and the truth.

The film showcases country music from two continents. Rose-Lynn s band is led by UK folk royalty Neill McColl, and features Scottish music legends, and founders of The Transatlantic Sessions, Aly Bain and Phil Cunningham. "Whispering" Bob Harris, whose BBC Radio 2 show has made him an ambassador for country music in the UK for more than 40 years, will also appear in the film. Alongside an exciting selection of classic and modern country music, the soundtrack features an original song written by platinum-selling singer songwriter Caitlyn Smith, Oscar -winning actress Mary Steenburgen and Kate York.

"Nicole Taylor has written a cracking script, full of energy and charm. Her witty dialogue will have you in stitches but at its heart, this is a moving, universal story about roots and dreams. Jessie Buckley is a revelation in the lead role and I can t wait for audiences to hear her sing," said producer Faye Ward.

"Nicole has written the most wonderful script: hugely entertaining, sharp, funny and with something to say about the way we live today. I am thrilled to be bringing it to life with such an exceptional team of people," said director Tom Harper.

Buckley is repped by United Agents and CAA. Walters is repped by Independent Talent. Okonedo is repped by UTA and Hamilton Hodell. Harkness is repped by Curtis Brown Group. Harper is repped by UTA and 42.

ABOUT FABLE PICTURES

Fable Pictures is a TV and film production company, set up in 2016 by Faye Ward and Eugenio Perez, with Sony Pictures Television taking a minority stake.

The first film to shoot under the new company banner was STAN & OLLIE, which wrapped in May this year. The eOne/BBC Films funded feature was written by Jeff Pope and directed by Jon S. Baird, and stars Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly as comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. Fable s slate includes four-part mini-series SAINT MAZIE starring Helena Bonham Carter, based on the novel by Jami Attenberg and adapted by Clara Brennan, and projects with a roster of British talent including Hanif Kureishi, Smita Bhide, Yann Demange, Marianne Elliot and Moira Buffini.

Company founder Faye Ward is one of the UK s most prominent young producers. 2015 saw the international release of SUFFRAGETTE starring Carey Mulligan, Anne Marie Duff, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson and Meryl Streep, which she produced for Pathe and Film4. More recently, Faye was part of the producing team of the critically acclaimed drama series THE CROWN for Netflix and Left Bank Pictures.

ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT ONE

Entertainment One Ltd. (LSE:ETO) is a global independent studio that specialises in the development, acquisition, production, financing, distribution and sales of entertainment content. The Company s diversified expertise spans across film, television and music production and sales, family programming, merchandising and licensing, and digital content. Through its global reach and expansive scale, powered by deep local market knowledge, the Company delivers the best content to the world.

Entertainment One s robust network includes film and television studio The Mark Gordon Company; content creation venture Amblin Partners with Steven Spielberg, DreamWorks Studios, Participant Media, and Reliance Entertainment; newly-launched MAKEREADY with Brad Weston; leading feature film production and global sales company Sierra Pictures; unscripted television production company Renegade 83; world-class music labels Dualtone Music Group and Last Gang; and award-winning digital agency Secret Location.

The Company s rights library is exploited across all media formats and includes more than 100,000 hours of film and television content and approximately 40,000 music tracks.

ABOUT THE BFI

The BFI Film Fund supports world-class UK filmmaking from talent and film development, through to production, and audience development across exhibition, distribution and international sales. Wit

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