‘Palmer’ Scribe Cheryl Guerriero To Pen Coming-Out Feature ‘I Have Something To Tell You’ For Monarch Media
EXCLUSIVE: In the wake of seeing her Apple TV+ movie Palmer starring Justin Timberlake becoming the streamer’s most viewed ever in a debut weekend, scribe Cheryl Guerriero is writing I Have Something to Tell You for Monarch Media.
The project is inspired by Guerriero’s own experience. In 2003, with a video camera hidden in her family’s kitchen, Guerriero, with the help of her sister, came out to her conservative, religious parents. She subsequently appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show with her mother to help educate the audience on how difficult the coming-out process can be.
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Monarch principals Alan Powell and Steve Barnett will produce I Have Something to Tell You, and Guerriero and Monarch principal Vicky Patel will serve as EPs.
“When I learned that Alan and Steve were interested in turning a part of my life into a movie, I was truly honored,” said Guerriero. “I’m a fan of their work and respect them as people, which is always important to me, especially with a story that is so personal. This is a story of unconditional love between a parent and a child and coming to understand things that you may have initially struggled with, and that hopefully love conquers all. At least it did in my family. I’m super excited to be working side-by-side to bring I Have Something to Tell You to the screen.”
Said Powell: “We feel incredibly honored that such a talented writer and even more generous person is trusting us to help tell her story. This is not at all about vilifying anyone’s beliefs but rather, by bringing Cheryl’s experience to life on screen, we hope to inspire people to be more accepting and empathetic.”
Guerriero also authored the novel Girl on Point for Red Adept Publishing. She is repped by UTA, Heroes and Villains and attorney Peter Sample.
Powell, Barnett and Patel have a number of projects in the works through Monarch Media, including Chris Pratt’s comedic coming-of-age story The Black Belt; military thriller Havoc, with South Korean filmmaker Byung-gil Jung attached to direct; Do the Birds Still Sing in Hell?, a musical based on the WWII biography of a British soldier who was a prisoner of war in Nazi Germany; an English-language remake of the Spanish-language film La Lista, from director Alvaro Diaz Lorenzo; and, in partnership with country music duo Florida Georgia Line, a musical feature film featuring original country music. The team also produced the family musical A Week Away, due to be released by Netflix later this year.
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