Amazon Prime Video announced today at the Prime Video Presents event in Sydney it has commissioned production on a new seven-part drama series The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart starring Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Sigourney Weaver.
. The series is based on the international best-selling book by Australian author Holly Ringland. The Australian Amazon Original will be produced by Australian hit-making team Jodi Matterson and Bruna Papandrea under the Made Up Stories banner, Amazon Studios and Endeavor Content. The series will be adapted for screen by award-winning Australian writer Sarah Lambert who serves as the series showrunner with award-winning filmmaker Glendyn Ivin set to direct. Lambert and Ivin will also serve as executive producers.
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart tells the compelling story of a young girl, Alice Hart, whose violent childhood casts a dark shadow over her adult life. After a family tragedy in which she loses both her abusive father and beloved mother in a tragic and mysterious fire, nine-year-old Alice is taken to live with her grandmother June on a flower farm where she learns that there are secrets within secrets about her and her family’s past.
Set against Australia’s breathtaking, natural landscape, and with native wildflowers and plants providing a way to express the inexpressible, this enthralling family drama that spans decades as Alice grows from a child into a woman, is epic and visceral. Her journey builds to an emotional climax as Alice, once again, finds herself fighting for her life against a man she loves.
“Amazon Prime Video is proud to be bringing this powerful and uniquely Australian story to life for our Prime members around the world”, said Erika North, Head of Originals, Asia Pacific, at Amazon Studios. “This gripping and emotional story is a broad-skewing drama featuring strong female characters, written and produced by an incredible team of talented female film-makers, and set against a stunning local landscape. We are thrilled that the wonderful Sigourney Weaver signed on to this project to bring the complex and powerful story to life. We will continue to produce more local content, offering and unearthing compelling stories featuring Australian artists, writers and producers and are proud of the Australian originals we have created with local production partners.”
Executive producers Jodi Matterson and Bruna Papandrea added, “We are thrilled to be bringing The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart to Prime Video. The story is a compelling tale of female resilience, which will be perfectly embodied by the talented Sigourney Weaver. Holly has created a distinctive and powerful novel told with authenticity, courage and love. I have been a fan of Holly’s book for quite some time, a longtime admirer of Sigourney’s, and am excited to be partnering with Amazon Studios to bring this story to a global audience.”
Author Holly Ringland said, “Although I mostly wrote The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart thinking that no one other than me would ever read it, I wanted my novel to find its people – I was driven by a deep, aching desire for connection. To use my voice. To roar like I used to on bushwalks as a child, yelling cooee out into the Australian bush, waiting with breath held to hear someone else, unknown and unseen to me but on the same track, yell cooee back. I’m here. You’re not alone. It’s what I wanted to feel in my writing; it’s the feeling I wanted Alice and her story to give others. This is my wildest dream, seeing my first novel, Alice’s story, be brought to life on screen and for a global audience on Amazon Prime Video.”
Screenwriter and show runner, Sarah Lambert said, “From the moment I read The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart I knew I wanted to bring this story and these characters to the screen. It’s such a timely drama about family, love and relationships born out of the violence so often hidden neatly away behind closed doors. Leaving behind untold damage. However, it is also an extraordinarily hopeful story about women, resilience, friendship, and giving voice to the truth to finally break free of the past. I cannot wait to take audiences on this journey with the indomitable Alice Hart. There really is no better platform than Amazon Prime Video to bring this story to the world with their commitment to original voices and groundbreaking shows. “
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart will be executive produced by Jodi Matterson, Bruna Papandrea, Steve Hutensky and Allie Goss of Made Up Stories, Sigourney Weaver, Sarah Lambert and Glendyn Ivin. The series will be produced by Barbara Gibbs and co-executive produced by Lucinda Reynolds. Sigourney Weaver is repped by UTA and attorneys Alan Wertheimer and Darren Trattner
