Jennifer Aniston and producing partner Kristin Hahn, have revealed that their plans to produce a film about the Goree All Girl String Band, one of the first all-female country and western groups to hit the big time in the 1940s, are finally getting off the ground.
The pair, who founded production company Echo Films together and recently produced Cake, have been working on the passion project for some years now, but have faced numerous challenges in getting the film made.
They came close in 2009, when The Vow’s Michael Sucsy signed up to direct, and Grey’s Anatomy stars Ellen Pompeo and Sandra Oh were cast alongside Kelly Rowland and Aniston herself.
The plan soon fell apart however, and the project was shelved.
But despite setbacks, Hahn and Jen An are still keen to tell the story of the eight-piece string band, who met as inmates of Goree prison, Texas, in the 1930s, and went on to become one of the first all-female bands to achieve celebrity status and regular radio play - all while still in prison.
The tale of the eight inmates involves one woman imprisoned for murder following a childhood of domestic abuse, forced sterilisation on arrival at Goree, and how the girls planned to sing their way to early parole, before all-but-disappearing after their release.
Talking to Bustle.com, Hahn revealed that as a result of its grittier themes, the film has faced a series of obstacles: “because it's a period piece, because it's set in prison, because it's women."
But now, things are looking up.
Though she declined to reveal names, Hahn has confirmed that a female director is now onboard, and that casting has once again resumed, with the hope that filming will begin later this year.
As you might imagine, both Aniston and Hahn are more than pleased.
“It's taken many years and we've been rejected many times, in many different ways. And we don't care. The rejection means nothing to us. Telling the story means everything to us.”
