RACE, Jesse Owens

Whitehouse co-founding partner John Smith ACE has a solid track record of commercial and feature work, launched by his collaboration with Mike Figgis on Leaving Las Vegas. His latest endeavor teams him with director Stephen Hopkins of 24, Californication and Life and Death of Peter Sellers. Jason Sudeikis and Jeremy Irons have just joined in with Stephan James (lead) to help tell the tale of black American athlete Jesse Owens and his 1936 Olympic triumph in the face of Hitler’s vision of Aryan supremacy. “I’ve been waiting for the right film to come along for sometime now, and I’m very excited about Race. It’s about something important—this story needs to be told.” John will work on the film between London and New York with a slated debut in 2015—no doubt the filmmakers will have their eyes on the Academy Awards selection committee.