Circle Pictures Enlists Acclaimed Writer Ian Martin to Pen Tear Down
This Wall, Commemorating the End of the Cold War
Award-winning Satirist Will Memorialize Last Cold Warriors, Reagan and Gorbachev’s Historic Meeting in Reykjavik, through Dark Comedy
October 8, 2020, London – International Production Company, Circle Pictures, today announced it has secured noted comedy writer Ian Martin to produce the screenplay for Tear Down This Wall, a comedy drama profiling the roles of U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, in their journey to rid the world of nuclear weapons, beginning with their historic meeting in Reykjavik.
The film was inspired by, An Impossible Dream: Reagan, Gorbachev, and a World Without the Bomb by author Guillaume Serina and developed by Stewart Mackinnon, President of Circle Pictures.
Ian Martin is the award-winning writer for the BAFTA-nominated political satire The Thick of It and for the Oscar-nominated In The Loop. He was also a writer-producer on HBO’s VEEP (for which he won two WGA Awards and an EMMY) and a co-writer for the BAFTA-nominated feature film, The Death Of Stalin. “I am extremely pleased to have someone of Ian’s stature attached to this extremely timely project,” said Circle Pictures President, Stewart Mackinnon. “His political insight and wit will frame the historic moments leading up that led to the end of the Cold War and provide an introspective look at the mutual legacy of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev.”
Tear Down This Wall will track the historic events before and after the now famous Summit at Reykjavik which many historians view as the seminal moment that jump started the end of the Cold War. But even more importantly it will provide an in-depth look at the bond that was created between two men diametrically opposed politically, but with a common goal to rid the world of nuclear threat. “While the 1980s may seem like a prehistoric, pre-internet era to many, in fact it shared many similarities with the polarized world in which we live today,” said Ian Martin. “Just as climate change and social justice inspires young people all over the world, so in the 1980s did the global campaign for nuclear disarmament. There was genuine existential fear of The Bomb, just as today there is existential fear of The Virus. This is a film about hope demonstrating that when we are faced with a common threat, then mortal enemies owe it to humankind to sit down, talk and find common goals to advance peace and security. This is a story about hope, and I cannot think of a more relevant time in history to tell it.”
Over his 40-year career, Martin has been the author of several books including Epic Space and The Coalition Chronicles. Most recently he is serving as writer and supervising producer for the HBO space comedy Avenue 5 and hosting his Radio 4 comedy-drama The Hartlepool Spy that won the Tinniswood Prize 2020. “This story will follow a long history of political satire by telling the story of two men driven by clever women, pretending to be in control as the world around them cracked and crumbled,” noted Martin. “It will reveal the absurdity of high-level diplomacy, showing real people stripped to their emotional, ridiculous human core as they manoeuvre behind the scenes, each side desperate to seem morally superior to the other. It will humanize “Gorby and Ronnie”, brought together by fate, unable ever to be friends but understanding one another completely.”
Joining the project as Executive Producer will be Jere Sullivan, a senior public relations advisor for the world’s largest communications firm Edelman, who has spent nearly thirty years developing and implementing public affairs campaigns in the world’s leading political capitals from Washington, D.C. to Brussels. He will serve as communications and political advisor on the project.
The Tear Down This Wall announcement by CIRCLE Pictures comes on the heels of the success of Man in the High Castle, one of the most viewed series on Amazon to date that has become a successful cornerstone of the streaming network’s lineup. CIRCLE Pictures aims to create purposeful drama that connects global audiences – socially, culturally and politically in line with previous projects such as The
Man in the High Castle, an adaptation of Phillip K Dick’s classic, The Invisible Woman with Ralph Fiennes, Quartet, Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut and Emmy Award winning Peter and Wendy starring Stanley Tucci.
Circle Pictures…Telling Stories With Purpose
Guillaume Serina 