It has today been announced that award-winning Bloomsbury author Benjamin Myers will collaborate with Warner Music Entertainment and production company Class 5 on an adaptation of his latest novel Rare Singles, marking his first feature film screenplay.
Rare Singles follows Bucky Bronco, a one-time singer grieving his late wife and struggling with an addiction to prescription medication, who is given a last chance when he is invited to perform at a Northern Soul event in Scarborough. On arriving in Britain, he meets Dinah, a fan who escapes her unhappy home life through Northern Soul fan, and the pair strike up an unlikely friendship in the face of Bucky’s first performance in fifty years. The novel was acclaimed by reviewers earlier this year, who praised its exploration of nostalgia, friendship and music, and was selected for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club.
The announcement also launches Class 5, a Sheffield based production company headed by BAFTA-nominated producer Nickie Sault, who worked on Shane Meadows’ BBC adaptation of Myers’ novel The Gallows Pole, which aired last year. Sault is known for her work with director Meadows, which began back in 2005. Over the following decades, she produced various This is England films and shows, and produced Meadows’ The Virtues. She was also a producer on Peter Bowker’s BBC war series World on Fire, and BBC/Prime Video comedy thriller The Outlaws.
“I believe that film and television has the power to drive societal change, and I take that responsibility seriously,” said Sault. “When people spend their hard-earned money to see a film or commit hours of their life to watching something on television, we, as creators, need to earn that privilege by making sure that what we put out into the world is meaningful. Class 5 strives for the best experience both on and off screen.
“At Class 5, every collaborator regardless of rank or role, is welcomed into a safe environment where their voice is encouraged and valued. I am thrilled to be continuing my collaboration with the incredible Benjamin Myers, and honoured that I get to work alongside Warner Music Entertainment in co-producing his very first feature film adaptation, Rare Singles.”
Next year, Sault will launch Class 5 Crew, a not-for-profit organization with the purpose of supporting the next generation of working-class film and TV talent. Sault comes from a working-class family and was the daughter of a miner at the long closed Grimethorpe Colliery in Barnsley, Yorkshire.
The film will be co-produced by Ally Gipps at Warner Music Entertainment, best known for his work at Warp Films on Four Lions, Kill List, and Submarine.
Benjamin Myers said, “Cinema holds such a strong influence of over my work that I actually consider certain books of mine as films that have merely been written down, as opposed to novels. To adapt my own novel therefore has been exhilarating and educational, and a reminder that film and literature are two entirely different – but equally satisfying – approaches to storytelling. But during this process I have also learned that the role of writer and director are actually quite similar – both require ego, an eye, a megalomaniacal streak and a lot of stamina.”
Allegra LeFanu, Publishing Director at Bloomsbury General added, “It has been a joy to publish Rare Singles by the inimitable Benjamin Myers this year: a book which, like so much of his work, captures the transformative powers of connection and art. The whole team at Bloomsbury is so excited that, with the support of Warner Music Entertainment and Class 5, the unforgettable Bucky and Dinah will be embarking on a fresh adventure on the silver screen.”
Benjamin Myers is the author of eleven novels, and has won numerous awards, including the 2023 Goldsmiths Prize, the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, and the inaugural Gordon Burn Prize. In addition to the BBC adaptation of The Gallows Pole in 2023, a film version of The Offing is currently in production, starring and produced by Helena Bonham Carter.
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