Ugly Duckling Films actively acquires and develops intellectual property. Below is just a sample of projects on our current slate.
The Doodler
The Zodiac. The Unabomber. Ted Bundy. Serial killers you’ll be familiar with. But between 1974 and 1975, there was another ruthless serial killer at large, terrorising San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community. He was coined “the Doodler.” While a social movement roared to life in the city, the Doodler haunted its queer nightlife scene: drawing sketches of his victims and engaging in sexual acts with them before brutally murdering them. Plagued by a flawed investigation, a frightened public, and hesitation from victims’ friends and associates, who feared involvement would out them to family and employers, the investigation went cold. And so the Doodler walked away free. But The Doodler, a podcast launched in 2021, seeks to change that. Have a tip? Email us at thedoodlerline@gmail.com.
The Doodler is a podcast in collaboration with the San Francisco Chronicle, Neon Hum Media and Sony Music (US) with Pulitzer Prize nominated journalist Kevin Fagan helming the story. Available wherever you get your podcasts.
Bub Club
Created by Kevin and Jacqui Hughes, Bub Club is an animated musical series for pre-school children that follows the adventures of the Bub Club, a group of furry friends and their guide, the Bub Club Mouse.
The series features original songs and new arrangements and reworkings of some of the most beloved nursery rhymes.
The Midas Syndrome
The Midas Syndrome is a Danish thriller novel, written by journalists Peer Kaae & Per Kuskner, inspired by the real European money laundering scandal involving Danske Bank.
The story centers on Mads Brodersen, who has finally landed his dream job at Nordisk Bank in Denmark with all the perks and fat cat trimmings. When he is moved to the bank’s branch in Estonia, the banker learns that his predecessor died under mysterious circumstances. He naively investigates the death only to discover that there is a far bigger cover-up at large, involving several countries and political forces.
The book was published by HarperCollins Denmark in March 2020. The real case is set for trial in Q3 2021 in Copenhagen. Ugly Duckling Films are producing with Julie and Philipp Steffens.
Fiend
Set in a fictional town in the present day, Fiend is a blackly comic modernisation of the Faust legend. Mary, a selfless hospice nurse, encounters the Devil on the eve of her forty-fourth birthday. As she doesn’t believe in souls or heaven and hell, the Devil offers her a pact like no other. What’s more, the Devil, known as Sister Mary, is the spitting image of Mary herself…
The screenplay is written by What’s On Stage? award nominee and playwright Max Gill.
Pomegranate is the Answer
A feature adaptation of the remarkable life of James Brett, who turned a struggle with mental health and sexual abuse into a journey of incredible strength and innovation. Founder of the charity, Plant for Peace, an initiative designed to assist rural communities and farmers in conflict, to this date James has helped farmers in Afghanistan plant over 150,000 pomegranate trees and 1.9 million tree cuttings, steering them away from cultivating poppies, and is discussing with the country’s government the possibility of making Plant for Peace a national strategy.
Pomegranate is the Answer is a story of how one man inspired change — both in himself and those around him. The script is being helmed by BAFTA winner Guy Hibbert (A United Kingdom, Eye in the Sky). Learn more about James Brett’s remarkable story on BecomingX.com.
Precious Hair & Beauty
The third short from rising talent, writer/director John Ogunmuyiwa, Precious Hair & Beauty is an ode to the mundanity and madness of the high street, told through the window of an African hair salon.
The short is being produced with Tony Longe, and being funded by Loop Fund, Film London and BBC Films. Casting by Des Hamilton and Peerless overseeing VFX.