Good news via Mike Fleming at Deadline today confirmed a new directing deal for Elgin James, who was sentenced this time last year in Chicago to a year and one day in federal prison for a 2006 extortion charge. Elgin’s arrest came soon after he experienced critical acclaim at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival for his debut drama Little Birds and gained his first studio scriptwriting job.
Free after spending close to a year in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center, the former gang leader and rising indie filmmaker signed a deal with producers Jamie Patricof and Lynette Howell of Electric City to direct Come Sundown, a thriller about a family taken hostage by fiugitives trying to cross the U.S. border for Millennium Films. Justin Marks wrote the script.
Little Birds, about two girls who leave behind their dull lives on the shore of the Salton Sea and head to Los Angeles with three boys, opens in theaters this summer from Millennium Entertainment.
Fans, did you catch Little Birds at Sundance? Are you excited for James to line up a new directing gig so soon after his release from prison? Trust me, this second chance could not have happened to a more talented filmmaker.