Models of The Price Is Right and Their Battle Against Bob Barker to Be Adapted into Film; Producers of “Deliver Me From Nowhere” Involved in the Project
According to CinemaDrame News Agency, The Gotham Group has acquired the film and television adaptation rights to an investigative Business Insider article titled “The Unknown Warriors of The Price Is Right.”
The story of the models of The Price Is Right and their struggle to stand up against Bob Barker, the show’s famous host, is set to be developed into both a film and a television series.
The Gotham Group, a management and production company led by its founder Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, has secured the film and television rights to “The Unknown Warriors of The Price Is Right,” an investigative article written by award-winning journalist David Kushner, published in Business Insider in September 2024.
Goldsmith-Vein, Eric Robinson, and Ross Siegel will serve as producers for The Gotham Group, and David Kushner has also joined the project as a producer.
Kushner’s article tells the untold story of the women behind The Price Is Right, the longest-running television game show in American history, who worked as models known as “Barker’s Beauties.” While the show’s glamorous appearance during its peak in the 1970s and 1980s suggested a polished entertainment environment, these women faced years of sexism, sexual harassment, and racial discrimination behind the scenes, and actively resisted it. When they sought help from CBS executives, they were met with collective silence and cover-ups.
These women, led by model Holly Hallstrom, challenged Bob Barker and the most powerful structures in television in various ways, enduring years of public humiliation, confidentiality agreements, and financial ruin—long before the term #MeToo entered public discourse.
Hallstrom fought Bob Barker and CBS for nearly a decade, and when she finally reached a multi-million-dollar settlement without signing a nondisclosure agreement, she was bankrupt and living in her car—a fate that some other “Barker’s Beauties” were also unable to escape. After decades of silence, Hallstrom, along with her colleagues Kathleen Bradley and Linda Riegert, eventually shared their stories.
Goldsmith-Vein and Robinson stated in a joint statement:
“The depth and cultural significance of David Kushner’s reporting is exactly the kind of storytelling we are drawn to. Holly Hallstrom and the women who stood with her are true American heroes, and their fight deserves to be told on the biggest possible stage.”
Kushner also said:
“I am thrilled that not only is this story and these extraordinary women in such capable hands, but that I will also be involved in bringing it to the screen.”
This deal marks the latest collaboration between Goldsmith-Vein and Robinson, following projects such as “Deliver Me From Nowhere” by 20th Century Studios and the film “The Last Days,” directed by Justin Lin, released in October 2025 by Vertical Entertainment. Both works are character-driven true stories, a hallmark of their production style. “Deliver Me From Nowhere” was a particularly ambitious project, featuring Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen and Jeremy Strong as his manager Jon Landau. The film explores the making of Springsteen’s landmark 1982 album “Nebraska.”
The Gotham Group is known for actively seeking media material with strong dramatic and cinematic adaptation potential. Earlier this year, it also acquired the adaptation rights to the article “Tommy Supreme and the Blitz,” written by George Pendle and published in Air Mail.
