Film Acquisition Rundown: NEON Picks Up Errol Morris’ ‘The B-Side,’ FilmRise Gets Two Sundance Premieres and More
ARTICLE BY: KATE ERBLAND
– NEON, the recently launched distribution company founded by Tom Quinn and Tim League, will release Oscar winning director Errol Morris’ “The B-Side,” a heartfelt portrait of photographer, Elsa Dorfman. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in 2016 followed by a prestigious festival run, screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival and the International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA).
The film is slated to open theatrically on June 2.
– Gravitas Ventures has secured worldwide rights to “Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo,” the compelling untold story about an extraordinary team.
The story is told told “with unprecedented access to archival footage and stories from the men who lived it, including the creator of Mission Control, Dr. Chris Kraft, retired NASA Flight Directors Gene Kranz (portrayed by Ed Harris in “Apollo 13”), Glynn Lunney and Gerry Griffin. Also appearing are Flight Dynamics Officer Jerry Bostick, Flight Controller John Aaron, iconic astronaut Captain James Lovell (played by Tom Hanks in “Apollo 13”), and moonwalkers Charlie Duke and the late Captain Gene Cernan.”
The film will arrive in select theaters across the U.S. and VOD on April 14. The film is now available to pre-order from iTunes: http://apple.co/2meT16A.
– Breaking Glass Pictures has acquired North American rights to the LGBT/drama romance “UTOPIANS” (aka “Tung lau hap woo”), the newest feature film from Hong Kong LGBT auteur SCUD. The film had its world premiere at the New Director’s Film Festival in Japan. The film later held its U.S. Premiere at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and went on to play at Outfest FUSION and the Chicago International Film Festival.
Breaking Glass is planning a premium VOD and DVD release in early May.
– FilmRise has announced that it has acquired the exclusive North American distribution rights to Ernesto Contreras’ “I Dream In Another Language.” Contreras’ film won the Audience Award in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
FilmRise will release the film theatrically in mid-2017.
– Breaking Glass Pictures has acquired North American rights to director Paul Rocha’s family-comedy “In the Dog House,” starring Kim Hamilton, Matt Masella and Alana Baer.
Breaking Glass is planning a DVD/VOD release on April 18. The film will also be available on the following platforms: Amazon Instant, Google Play, Vudu, and through local cable and satellite providers.
– FilmRise has also acquired the exclusive North American distribution rights to Felipe Bragança’s “Don’t Swallow My Heart, Alligator Girl!” The film had its world premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, and its European premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in the Generations Competition.
“Don’t Swallow My Heart, Alligator Girl!” will be available to stream later this year on Amazon Prime Video. FilmRise opted-in to Amazon Video Direct’s Film Festival Stars — a new program designed to establish an attractive distribution model for films screened at film festivals, beginning with Sundance.
– Gravitas Ventures has bought all U.S. rights to the Ross McCall-starring crime drama “The Beautiful Ones.” Jesse V. Johnson wrote and directed the film, which co-stars Jesse Schram (“Mad Men”), Brian Tee (“TMNT”), Eric Roberts (“The Dark Knight”), Fernanda Andrade (“The Devil Inside”) and the late Ed Lauter (“The Artist”).
McCall portrays “a mob family shylock who falls in love with the wrong woman during a turf war, and has to use his unique skills to rescue her from the same people he once called brothers.” The film is slated for a summer 2017 release. The deal was negotiated by Gato Scatena of Scatena & Rosner Films, and Brendan Gallagher of Gravitas Ventures.