Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008    Text size: 

Hollywood trade journal Variety earlier this year reported that Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh planned to cast an adult film star as the lead in “The Girlfriend Experience.” The film is a low-budget feature film told from a perspective of a $10,000-a-night escort.

This week, several outlets reported Soderbergh decided to cast Grey as the lead in the Magnolia Pictures production. The film is now shooting in New York.

"To have the opportunity to work for an Academy-Award winning auteur is truly a great honor," Grey said. "I've been an admirer of Soderbergh's films for years and I am elated that I have been given a leading role in a character driven film."

The film will be financed by HDNet label partners, Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner. It's the second in a six-picture deal with Soderbergh to direct low-budget films to be distributed in theaters, on cable TV and DVD simultaneously.

Soderbergh won the ‘best director’ Oscar in 2000 for “Traffic,” a gritty depiction of international drug smugglers and the federal agents who pursue them. He was previously nominated for the award for “Erin Brockovich” and “Sex, Lies and Videotape.”