Picnik Entertainment acquires UK rights for The Almond and the Seahorse

Based on the play, The Almond and the Seahorse stars Rebel Wilson (Senior Year, Pitch Perfect Trilogy, JoJo Rabbit), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Melancholia, Jane Eyre, 21 Grams), award-winning Danish actress Trine Dyrholm (In a Better World, Margrete: Queen of the North) and Celyn Jones (Swede Caroline, Set Fire to the Stars), Meera Syal (Yesterday, The Devil’s Hour - TV), Ruth Madeley (Years and Years, Doctor Who) and Alice Lowe (Hot Fuzz, Swede Caroline).

The film is written by Celyn Jones and Kaite O’Reilly, with Jones and Tom Stern (cinematographer on Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, American Sniper) serving as first time co-directors on the project. It is produced by Mad as Birds Films (Six Minutes to Midnight, Set Fire to the Stars). Picnik placed the closing finance on the Mad As Birds’ production and serves as executive producer as well as distributor of the film. Mad As Birds is Picnik’s lead production company partner in the UK and the team work jointly across Mad As Bird’s entire slate.  

The Almond and the Seahorse is produced by Andy Evans, Alex Ashworth and Sean Marley for Mad As Birds, and Alison Brister for REP Productions SF. The film was financed by REP Productions SF alongside Head Gear, Picnik Entertainment, Creative Wales and Ffilm Cymru Wales, with funding from the National Lottery. Executive producers include Laure Vaysse for Harcourt Capital, Bizzy Day and Pauline Burt for Ffilm Cymru Wales, Phil Hunt and Compton Ross for Head Gear, Nicola Pearcey for Picnik Entertainment Ltd, with Stephen Kelliher and Yana Georgieva for Bankside Films and Eddie Izzard.

The Almond and the Seahorse are the nicknames given to the parts of our brains that lay down new memories and hold on to the old ones. After a TBI (a traumatic brain injury) these parts can change, become new pathways, creating a new you... but what gets forgotten and who gets left behind? Usually, the people who love us the most.

The film explores the complex and very human relationships of two couples as they try to navigate a new life together or attempt to explore a life apart after TBI changed everything. It refreshingly focuses on the characters without brain damage, but have to carry the heart damage. Sarah (Rebel Wilson) is an archaeologist who loves her husband Joe (Celyn Jones) but after a TBI their love is trapped in the past. Toni (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is an architect and loves her partner Gwen (Trine Dyrholm) but after a TBI they have been imprisoned in a fifteen year loop. Love is the only thing that keeps them all going but something has changed and they need more help. Both women are on a parallel course, both want a future  but neither know if it is possible or what that may look like. As Dr Falmer (Meera Syal) puts it ‘they’re the brains I can’t mend’. 

Of the project Rebel Wilson says, “I’m so proud of this great gem of a film that dives into the important subject of traumatic brain injury. It’s such a departure for me artistically after having done mainly commercial comedy films in America, it was a challenge to do something so very different, but I just adored working with Cel and Charlotte, Trine and Meera on this beautiful piece. I can’t wait for UK audiences to see it in May.”

Nicola Pearcey, CEO of Picnik Entertainment, adds, “It is an absolute honour to be releasing The Almond And The Seahorse. We’ve all seen Rebel in those much loved blockbuster comedic roles, but this film demonstrates her dramatic ability on another level and we cannot wait for our audiences to see her alongside the amazing talents of Charlotte Gainsbourg, Trine Dyrholm, Meera Syal and of course the brilliant writer and co-director and co-star Celyn Jones, in UK cinemas this May.”

Co-writer/director Celyn Jones confirms, “It’s wonderful and very apt that Picnik Entertainment are bringing the film to U.K. audiences. The performances from each of the leading ladies are astounding, a masterclass and it was a pleasure to be in their orbit. It’s a universal story about love , survival and the powerful fragility of memory. We wanted to shine a bright light on a poignant subject that affects many people caught in the emotional debris of TBI, caught between caring for and being cared for in a world that can leave you behind. I hope our film helps to heal as much as it entertains and don’t worry it’s as funny as it is moving.”