Anonymous Content, Impact Partners Team For “Mistress Dispeller” Documentary; ‘Stray’s Elizabeth Lo Directing

Matt Grobar
·3 min read

EXCLUSIVE: Anonymous Content and Impact Partners have teamed to produce a new doc on a China-based “mistress dispeller,” to be directed and produced by award-winning filmmaker Elizabeth Lo (Stray). Plans for a scripted adaptation of the documentary are also in the works.

The as-yet-untitled feature watches as the mistress dispeller is hired by couples in crisis to break up affairs and save their marriages by any means necessary. Shifting perspectives between husband, wife and mistress, the film is billed as a strikingly intimate story of love and betrayal, as well as a potent exploration of how class, capital and culture collide to shape romantic relationships in contemporary China.

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. - Credit: Elizabeth Lo
. - Credit: Elizabeth Lo

Elizabeth Lo

The project produced in association with CMP is being co-financed by Anonymous Content, Impact Partners and CMP, having been developed in association with The Concordia Fellowship. Dawn Olmstead, Jessica Grimshaw and Nick Shumaker will exec produce on behalf of Anonymous Content, alongside Jenny Raskin, Lauren Haber and Geralyn White Dreyfous for Impact Partners, with Kelsey Koenig and Marni Grossman as co-executive producers. Steve Cohen and Paula Froehle will executive produce for CMP, along with Rahdi Taylor and Davis Guggenheim for The Concordia Fellowship. Emma D. Miller (What We Leave Behind) is producing for Marcona Media, with Maggie Li (Ascension) serving as co-producer. Submarine Entertainment and Anonymous Content are handling sales.

Lo’s past work has been showcased by Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, MoMA, AFI Fest, IDFA, New York Times Op-Docs, Field of Vision and PBS’ POV. The filmmaker has also notably been featured in DOC NYC’s “40 Under 40” and Cannes Lions’ New Directors Showcase. Her debut feature, Stray, won Best International Feature at Hot Docs and received nominations from the Independent Spirit Awards, Critics Choice Documentary Awards and Cinema Eye Honors after premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2020. A New York Times Critic’s Pick, Stray was released theatrically by Magnolia Pictures in 2021 and is now streaming on Hulu. Currently a Concordia Studio Fellow, Lo’s award-winning short films include Hotel 22 and Mother’s Day.

Anonymous Content is a production and management company that represents a diverse roster of writers, directors, actors and comedians. Recent releases from the media company include Benjamin Cleary’s sci-fi drama Swan Song for Apple TV+; Netflix’s post-9/11 drama Worth, starring Michael Keaton, Amy Ryan and Stanley Tucci; Tom McCarthy’s Matt Damon starrer Stillwater for Focus Features; and George Clooney’s The Midnight Sky for Netflix. Up next for Anonymous on the film side is Garth Davis’ sci-fi thriller Foe, starring Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal and Aaron Pierre, which is set for release via Amazon.

Anonymous also recently released the Apple TV+ series The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Dominique Fishback. Upcoming series from the company include Apple TV+’s Time Bandits from Taika Waititi, Apple’s Shantaram starring Charlie Hunnam, and Hulu’s Saint X, directed by Dee Rees.

A film and television production company founded in 2007, Impact Partners has been involved in the financing of over 100 films, including: Icarus, which won the 2018 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature; Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, which won the 2019 Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary; Dina, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was named Best Feature by the International Documentary Association; The Eagle Huntress, which was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary; How to Survive a Plague, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature; The Queen of Versailles, which won the U.S. Directing Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival; and Hell and Back Again, which won the Documentary Grand Jury Prize and Cinematography Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Lo is represented by Anonymous Content.

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