| The American Film Company | |
| Foundation: | 2008 |
| Key People: | Joe Ricketts (CEO) Alfed Levitt (COO) Brian Falk (Producer/Executive) Robert Stone (Producer/Executive) |
| Area Served: | Worldwide |
| Homepage: | The American Film Company |
The American Film Company is a film production company founded in 2008 by Joe Ricketts. Ricketts previously founded TD Ameritrade and, with his family, owns the Chicago Cubs.[1] The American Film Company, founded on the belief that real life is often more compelling than fiction, produces feature films about true stories from America's past.[2] The company has offices in New York City and Los Angeles.
The company's first film was The Conspirator,[3] a historical drama about the trial of Mary Surratt, the lone woman charged as a co-conspirator in the Abraham Lincoln assassination.[4] The film was directed by Robert Redford and stars James McAvoy and Robin Wright.[5] In keeping with the company's goal to create historically accurate films, Pulitzer Prize winner James McPherson, Lincoln assassination expert Thomas Turner, and Army historian Col. Fred Borch consulted on the film.[6]
The American Film Company is currently developing The Arsenal, a film about John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, and Midnight Riders, about the midnight ride of Paul Revere.[7]