Melina Kanakaredes To Co-Write & Produce Film Based On Life Of ‘On Death & Dying’ Author Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
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Melina Kanakaredes (The Resident) has teamed with Das Films for an indie feature on the life of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, inspired by Kübler-Ross’ book The Wheel of Life: A Memoir Of Living and Dying.
Kanakaredes will co-write the project, with Immortals scribes Vlas and Charley Parlapanides, and will produce via her Melpa Productions shingle. Kanakaredes acquired the rights to the 1997 book The Wheel of Life, as well as Kübler-Ross’ life rights. The project has the support of the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Family Partnership, who continue to oversee the publishing of Kübler-Ross’ 23 books that have been translated into more than forty languages and sold over 10 million copies around the globe.
Kübler-Ross was a Swiss-born psychiatrist, a pioneer in near-death studies and the author of the groundbreaking book On Death and Dying (1969), where she introduced the world to the five stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
Together with her partner, former Black Panther-turned-reverend, Renford Gaines, Kübler-Ross went up against all forms of discrimination, sexism and racism during the height of the civil rights movement. The indie movie will tell the true story of a woman’s fight to change the medical establishment’s treatment and care of dying patients. Her strength and courage as a women in the face of a male dominated profession led to the creation of Hospice here in America and across the globe.
Kanakaredes will produce alongside Siram Das producing and JJ Meyers executive producing for Das Films.
This is the second collaboration for Kanakaredes and writers Vlas and Charley Parlapanides. They previously teamed to co-writeStolen For Good, a TV drama series, which they were developing for indie production company Dynamic Television, with Kanakarides also attached to star.
Kanakaredes, who starred on CBS’ CSI:NY from 2004-2010, has also been writing consistently, having sold her first pilot script to CBS in 2005. She also wrote for CSI:NY and has developed several projects in partnership with Saving Grace creator Nancy Miller, with whom she worked on Stolen For Good. The two met on the 1997 series Leaving LA, which Miller created and in which Kanakaredes starred.
As an actress, Kanakaredes recently recurred on Extant and Notorious and can currently be seen recurring as Lane Hunter on Fox medical drama series The Resident.
Charley and Vlas Parlapanides most recently penned the Immortals sequel and the screenplay for Adam Wingard-directed Death Note. They also co-wrote spec Zero Footprint, about the Benghazi attack, which was acquired by Alcon. They previously wrote, directed and produced indie comedy Everything For A Reason, which was acquired by The Shooting Gallery.
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