KATE WINSLET - WINSLET'S EX DIRECTS FIRST MOVIE

KATE WINSLET's ex-husband JIM THREAPLETON has directed his first movie, and convinced THE LORD OF THE RINGS actor ANDY SERKIS to star in the project. Threapleton met Winslet when he acted as assistant to film-maker ESTHER FREUD on the movie HIDEOUS KINKY, and they married in 1998. The TITANIC actress gave birth to daughter MIA in 2000 but they split the following year (01). And Threapleton, 31, hopes the release of RENDITION - which deals with terrorist suspect interrogation - will finally see him step out of his ex's shadow. He says, "Because of the immediacy of the subject we didn't have time to develop a script so I worked up an outline. It is improvised."