EXCLUSIVE: Linden Productions has acquired rights to adapt bestselling author Eric Blehm’s latest book, The Darkest White. Riva Marker of Linden Productions will produce the film alongside Storm City. Blehm will remain on the project and serve as an Executive Producer.
The book tells the extraordinary and inspiring journey of Craig Kelly, a latchkey kid whose athletic prowess and innovations would revolutionize winter sports, take him around the globe, and push him into ever more extreme environments that would ultimately take his life. It is also a definitive, immersive account of snowboarding and the cultural movement that exploded around it, growing the sport from minor Gen X cult hobby to Olympic centerpiece and a billion-dollar business full of feuds and rivalries.
“Craig Kelly was more than just a four-time world champion, he was a hero to an army of misfits who brought skateboarding and surf culture into the mountains and with his death, his life became legend—the Obi Wan Kenobi of snowboarding. I’m so excited by the passion Riva and her team at Linden have for Craig’s story. His legacy is in good hands,” shares Blehm.
Blehm is The New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Fearless and The Only Thing Worth Dying For. His book The Last Season also won the National Outdoor Book Award. His books Fearless (Lionsgate/Kingdom Story Co.) and Legend are currently being adapted for the big screen as well. Blehm is represented by UTA.
Linden Productions, an award-winning film, television and theater company, is run by founders Nicole King and Stacy O’Neil alongside Partner, JoAnne Colonna and Riva Marker, the CEO of Production. They are currently in post-production on Aleshea Harris’ directorial debut Is God Is, with MGM/Orion Pictures. Previous productions include the Peabody Award-winning crime-thriller Reality starring Sydney Sweeney for HBO; the Netflix global phenomenon, Family Switch, starring Jennifer Garner; as well as the Working Title/Peacock holiday film, Genie, starring Melissa McCarthy. Linden Productions produced David Adjmi’s acclaimed play Stereophonic which took home five Tony Awards including Best Play. They have an impressive slate of projects in development across all mediums, including Jen Silverman’s feature film adaptation of Sarah Blakely-Cartwright’s book Alice Sadie Celine; the stage adaptation of Eliza Kennedy’s Lucky Night; Yes Day 2, the sequel to the Netflix original with Jennifer Garner set to reprise her role; an Untitled original series at HBO created by Janicza Bravo; as well as Mrs. Claus with Netflix and Hello Sunshine.
Storm City Films is a New York-based production, development, and finance company founded in 2021 by producers Gabrielle Nadig and Dennis Masel. Storm City is focused on celebrating and supporting emerging voices with a drive to create films that leave audiences feeling more hopeful about the world. Most recently Storm City executive produced The History of Sound starring Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor. The film, directed by Oliver Hermanus was acquired by Mubi and Focus Features and will be premiering in competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
