WSF

Dreamworks Picks Up Some “Help”

posted by Ken WSF President on March 4, 2010

DreamWorks Studios has picked up the film rights to Kathryn Stockett’s best-selling tome “The Help,” about the conflicted relationships between Southern women and their housekeepers at the start of the civil rights movement, according to Variety.

Tate Taylor, a multihyphenate and childhood friend of the author, will direct from his adapted script. He acquired the pic rights to the novel from Stockett.

Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe will produce via their shingle 1492 Pictures. Taylor also will produce with his partner at Harbinger Pictures, Brunson Green.

Deal was announced by DreamWorks co-production prexies Holly Bario and Mark Sourian.

“The Help” has spent 47 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, where it stands at No. 1.

Set in Jackson, Miss., in the early 1960s, story explores the unspoken code of behavior governing Southern households, which is shattered when an aspiring writer interviews a maid who speaks candidly about her experiences. The interview sets off shock waves that reverberate across the entire community.