History – poetsneverdie

Development History

London

Motivated by Michael O’ Sullivan, president of Paramount Pictures in Europe who was captivated by Stavros’ screenplay, the writer/producer/director rented two offices at Pinewood Studios and moved on to complete the package of “Poets Never Die”.

Assisted by Michael O’ Sullivan, Stavros succeeded in attaching John Glen, renowned director of five James Bond films, who enthusiastically agreed to direct “Poets Never Die”. In addition, based on the merits of the screenplay, Stavros attached seven Oscar winners devotedly willing to work on his exciting project.

The original budget drafted at Pinewood Studios was $28m. Sadly, due to Paramount’s internal problems, Michael O’ Sullivan informed Stavros that the $125m he had put aside to finance 3-4 European films, “Poets Never Die” included, was withheld by Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles and used to
complete the financial package of the blockbuster “Mission Impossible” starring Tom Cruise. After Paramount’s decision to hold back their $25m-$30m support for P&A for “Poets Never Die”, Stavros Sideras closed his offices at Pinewood Studios and moved to Los Angeles.

Los Angeles, USA

It took Stavros three years to convince anyone in LA to read his screenplay. Finally, «Poets Never Die» attracted the attention of every major talent agencies in Hollywood, including CAA, ICM and William Morris Endeavor.

Top agents working at the aforementioned talent agencies expressed the view that the script was “exceptional”. Both CAA and WME prepared “casting books”, which contained pictures and resumes of their most acclaimed actors, and asked the producers to choose any artist they desired from their roster and make them an offer.

Novel

In 2012 the novel of “Poets Never Die” was released world wide via Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, Gardners Books etc., receiving outstanding reviews. In 2014 “Poets Never Die” was also published in Greek.

The presidents of Greece and Cyprus, Mr. Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Mr. Nicos Anastasiades having read Stavros’ novel, congratulated the writer for his distinguished work and promised to assist Stavros accomplish his aspiration of turning “Poets Never Die” into a feature film.