It was fun and wild and feral.
Rabbit Tracks offices are on Londons iconic Carnaby Street.
They bonded over Catan, a trading and empire-building board game.
James Norton & Kitty Kaletsky in Rabbit Track’s London OfficeVianney Le Caer
It really does bring out your true colors, says Norton.
The way Kitty played Catan was obviously indicative of how she produced.
That was when the seeds were sown.
James Norton and Kitty Kaletsky.Vianney Le Caer
Great Point Media also became a backer.
Theres no way that we would have the company we have without Jim.
He had real faith in us when, really, he had no right to, says Kaletsky.
And its true, the work is important the actors bring a very important piece of the jigsaw.
But the more you do it, the more you realize the size of that jigsaw.
I wanted to be in the conversations earlier, he continues.
I could see producers having conversations and I wanted to be part of them.
With the company established, the next step was getting content made.
What did the pair want the signature of a Rabbit Track series or movie to be?
Its about our response to the thing.
Tastes have aligned forMagpie, which Rabbit Track is working up as a series.
Its propulsive and really moving in equal measure.
There is a project with Northern Irish filmmaker McArdle, who directed several episodes ofSeverance.
Its not unlikeSeveranceactually: It bridges that gap between horror and comedy, with a very particular aesthetic.
Norton, of course, starred inHappy Valleywith a memorably psychopathic turn as Tommy Lee Royce.
Squaring that circle, Rabbit Track is also working withHappy Valleyscribe Sally Wainwright on her first feature.
Theres also an Effie Woods (Trigonometry) rom-com series that Reggie Yates is directing.
Norton and Kaletsky are a bankable duo.
Banijay would only offer support.
That has been true to the nth degree.
Talk of working with writers moves quickly to things that are percolating.
Weve just brought Jack Thorne onto a project, and its really exciting.
We have the Sally Wainwright project, which is in the works.
Thorne is on boardWavewalker, by Suzanne Heywood, which will be adapted as a series.
Kaletsky says having readWavewalker, Rabbit Track pounced on the rights and quickly took it to Thorne.
Norton correctly predicts the payoff question.
The next question is, obviously, how big do we want to get?
Theres a sweet spot in the middle.
I grimace now when actors say, Do you know what, I dont really like this scene.
I want to rewrite it.
You know that word youre just throwing away?
Weve agonized over it.
Theres the call: Artists to set.
[As an actor] you get this sense of being part of the creative community.
Bullsh*t. Its such an important creative part of building this world.
As an actor, Norton has been on many sets, including Agnieszka Hollands on her movieMr.
Jonesand for series includingHappy Valley,War & Peace,McMafiaandGrantchester.
I didGrantchesterearly on with Kudos.
He also namechecks Nicola Shindler who foundedHappy Valleyprodco Red and now helms Quay Street Productions.
TV is currently 2-1 ahead and Norton is on-screen across the trio.
Norton and Kaletsky wantedPlaying Nice, the JP Delaney thriller.
They shared the idea with Joe Naftalin, SVP of Global Production at StudioCanal and he went for it.
A partnership was formed and with the added firepower, rights were duly secured.
It will play on ITV in the UK and Canal+ in France, with StudioCanal handling distribution.
The book tells a baby-switch story, setting up a horrific dilemma for the parents involved.
Norton plays one of the dads, Pete, opposite Niamh Algar as his partner Maddie.
The other couple, Miles and Lucy, are played by James McArdle and Jessica Brown Findlay.
Its a psychological thriller, and more psychological than thriller, Norton says.
Those relationships are the glue that bind the epic scale with the intimate.
It was made in association with the BBC, which scooped UK rights.
