Nigel Lythgoe To Exec Produce Dance Pic ‘Tackling Romeo’ – Berlin

Exclusive: Choreographer, producer and reality dance judge Nigel Lythgoe (So You Think You Can Dance, American Idol) has signed on to executive produce the dance feature Tackling Romeo, which will be introduced during this year’s Berlin Film Festival. Aimed at fans of films like Pitch Perfect, Tackling Romeo follows East Coast prep school senior Bobby Sherwood, a star Rugby player who sets about trying to become a ballet dancer in secret. As he juggles his life at school with his dreams of dancing, he finds these worlds colliding as he struggles with living up to the expectations of his family and friends, and who he is inside.

“When I was first introduced to this project by my son, Simon, I realized this is the dance film I have spent my whole life wanting to make,” said Lythgoe.

Casting for the film is underway with shooting planned to start mid-way through the year with Melbourne standing in for Connecticut, New Jersey and NYC. Post production will be handled by DDP Studios in Sydney. Based on source material by Stuart Beattie and Lynda Heys, the script is being penned by Heys and Steve Turnbull, with Heys directing and Turnbull producing via his Faraway Films Entertainment banner. Paradigm is repping Tackling Romeo Worldwide. Lythgoe is repped by Abel Lezcano at Del, Shaw, Moonves, Tanaka, Finkelstein & Lezcano. Julia Adams at Shiff and Company brokered the deal for Faraway.