Production has begun onNetflixsScoop, the feature project that provides an inside account of the road toBBC Newsnights bombshell 2019 interview withPrince Andrewabout his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Gillian Andersonhas joined the investigative drama as Emily Maitlis, the former lead presenter ofNewsnightwho conducted the now infamous exchange.Rufus Sewellwill play the disgraced royal.
In addition,Keeley Haweswill star as Amanda Thirsk, the former Private Secretary to Prince Andrew whileBillie Piperis Sam McAlister, theNewsnightproducer who negotiated and secured the booking and upon whose memoir,Scoops: Behind The Scenes of the BBCs Most Shocking Interviews,the film is based.
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Deadlinerevealedthe project was in the works last summer.
It will follow the inside track of the women that broke through the Buckingham Palace establishment to secure the scoop of the decade which led to the catastrophic fall from grace of The Queens Favourite son.
From navigating Palace vetoes, to breaking through to Prince Andrews inner circle, the high stakes negotiations and intensity of rehearsal, to the jaw-dropping interview itself,Scoopis billed as the insider account of the inner workings of the Palace and the BBC, twin bastions of the British Establishment, spotlighting the journalists whose tenacity and guts broke through the highest of ceilings and into the inner sanctum and calculations of a man with everything to lose.
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Philip Martin (The Crown) is directing.Scoopis produced by Hilary Salmon and Radford Neville for The Lighthouse Film & Television, with Sanjay Singhal for Voltage TV.
McAlister commented, It is beyond my wildest dreams, especially as a first time writer, to end up working with this extraordinary cast, Netflix, and the amazing teams at The Lighthouse and Voltage.
Watching Billie Piper, one of my favorite actresses, play me will be a pinch myself moment and Im truly thrilled to be involved in this film.
Martin adds, Im thrilled to be directing this film for Netflix and together with an extraordinary cast to be bringing Sam McAlisters revelatory insiders account to the screen.
Uptempo, immersive and cinematic, I want to put the audience inside the breathtaking sequence of events that led to the interview with Prince Andrew to tell a story about a search for answers, in a world of speculation and varying recollections.
Its a film about power, privilege and differing perspectives and how whether in glittering palaces or hi-tech newsrooms we judge whats true.
