Genevieve Dulude-Decelles (The Cut) has signed on to write and direct the adaptation of Stacey May Fowles’ novel Infidelity.

The feature is currently in development with L.A.- and Toronto-based prodco Euclid 431 Pictures and Toronto’s Quarterlife Crisis Productions.

Dulude-Decelles became involved in the project after Alan Bacchus of the Harold Greenberg Fund recommended the Sundance-winning director to the feature’s producers, Allison Black of Euclid 431 and Karen Shaw of Quarterlife Crisis. HGF is now backing the film with development support in its Treatment to First Draft stream.

Shaw and Black had previously acquired the option to Infidelity – also with financial support from HGF – from Fowles’ agent, Samantha Haywood of Transatlantic Agency. Black and Shaw then met with Fowles and Haywood to discuss their vision for the project and it was subsequently re-submitted to the HGF for review.

Bacchus says he was impressed with the duo’s presentation and thought the novel would translate well to a feature. “On a conceptual basis, the topic of infidelity works well for cinema, and the story is inherently suspenseful in terms of the deceitful nature of the characters,” he told Playback Daily.

The story is set in Toronto and follows the engaged Ronnie, who meets an older married man at a party her fiancé is catering and begins a whirlwind affair with him.

There are no distributors attached to the project yet, though having a name such as Dulude-Decelles attached to the project will attract international interest, said Shaw and Black in a joint interview. Once production begins, the feature will be made as an inter-provincial Ontario/Quebec production, they added.

Dulude-Decelles has gained recognition in Canada in the past year as the director behind The Cut, a short that was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award in the Live Action Short category and screened at TIFF and in TIFF’s Top Ten festival.

Book options are also an overlooked aspect and infrequently mined segment of the industry, said Allison Black.

“A lot of producers forget that at there is incredible material that’s already out there… It’s a great starting off point and it’s supporting great local authors as well,” said Black.

Black produced 2011’s Citizen Gangster, a feature written and directed by Black’s partner, Nathan Morlando. Shaw’s most recent project is Khoya, an indie feature shot in India.