‘Nyad’ Co-Developer Zurich Avenue Explores Wirecard’s Shady Dealings in ‘Bad Company,’ German Colonialism in ‘Hansen’
variety.comEd Meza @edmezavar Zurich Avenue, headed by producers and former Zurich Film Festival execs Karl Spoerri and Viviana Vezzani, has quickly amassed an impressive slate of projects since launching last year, including Annette Bening starrer “Nyad.” Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi’s film, which chronicles the attempt by 64-year-old swimmer Diana Nyad to swim from Cuba to Florida, unspools at the Zurich Film Festival.
Zurich Avenue co-developed the Netflix film, which was produced by Black Bear Pictures and Mad Chance. Part of financing group SPG3 Entertainment, likewise co-founded by Spoerri along with Urs Wietlisbach and Alfred Gantner in 2020, Zurich Avenue has provided the producers with a more hands-on approach, allowing them to create their own slate.
The company’s recent films include Bill Pohlad’s critically-acclaimed “Dreamin’ Wild,” starring Casey Affleck and Zooey Deschanel; Coky Giedroyc’s Take That musical “Greatest Days”; and the forthcoming Josh Margolin action-comedy “Thelma,” starring June Squibb (“Nebraska”) as a 90-year-old grandmother out for revenge after falling victim to a phone scam.
Spoerrie says he and Vezzani are especially interested in projects based on true stories, like “Nyad,” that have “emotional and inspirational angles and are filmmaker-driven.
Read more on variety.com
