The American Film Company has begun principal photography on its first feature film THE CONSPIRATOR, directed by Academy Award© winner Robert Redford and starring James McAvoy (WANTED, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND) and Robin Wright (THE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE, FORREST GUMP).

The ensemble cast of THE CONSPIRATOR includes Academy Award© nominee Tom Wilkinson, Academy Award© winner Kevin Kline, Evan Rachel Wood, Justin Long, Danny Huston, Colm Meaney, Alexis Bledel, Toby Kebbell, Johnny Simmons, James Badge Dale, Stephen Root, and Jonathan Groff.

THE CONSPIRATOR, written by James Solomon, tells the story of Mary Surratt (Robin Wright), the lone female charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Against the ominous backdrop of post-Civil War Washington, inexperienced lawyer Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy) reluctantly agrees to defend Surratt before a military tribunal hastily arranged by War Secretary Edwin Stanton (Kevin Kline).

As the trial unfolds, Aiken realizes his client may be innocent and that she is being used as bait by Stanton to capture the only conspirator to have escaped a massive manhunt — Surratt’s son, John (Johnny Simmons).

The American Film Company executives Brian Falk, Robert Stone, and Webster Stone will produce the film, alongside Robert Redford and Academy Award© winner Greg Shapiro (THE HURT LOCKER). Joe Ricketts, Alfred Levitt, Bill Holderman and Jeremiah Samuels will be executive producers.

Historians James McPherson, Fred Borch, and Tom Turner are set to advise on the project to ensure historical accuracy.

The film will be shot in Savannah, Georgia.

The American Film Company was conceived and founded in 2008 by entrepreneur and online brokerage pioneer Joe Ricketts, and is dedicated to the production of engaging and historically accurate feature films based on events from America’s past.