Life On The Bubble

Sundance 2010 Update: Apparition/Sony Buy ‘Welcome To The Rileys’

Bob Berney’s Apparition teamed with the Sony Worldwide Acquisitions Group to acquire domestic distribution rights to Welcome to the Rileys, the Jake Scott-directed drama that stars James Gandolfini, Kristen Stewart and Melissa Leo. Apparition is eyeing a fall distribution slot. I'm told the deal was seven figures with a P&A commitment.

via www.deadline.com

David Poland: Red Flag Releasing/8: The Mormon Proposition press release

In a deal for one of the most controversial titles at Sundance, Red Flag Releasing has acquired all North American rights to Reed Cowan's "8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION."

via www.mcnblogs.com

I missed this press release last week. Congratulations to Reed Cowan and company. They were very cool to us at the beginning of our Sundance project, and their participation was a big reason other filmmakers were willing to sit down with us at the outset.

Mike Fleming: A Big, BIG Sundance Deal Getting Done: ‘Splice’

I hear that Joel Silver and his Dark Castle label is in the last stages of closing a distribution deal for the genetic mutation thriller Splice. It will give the film a wide summer release on 3,000 screens, and a P&A commitment north of $25 million, and more likely in the vicinity of $35 million to $40 million.

via www.deadline.com

This is pretty exciting news. We interviewed "Splice" writers Antoinette Terry Bryant and Doug Taylor for our "Living The Dream" webisode series and they couldn't have been more gracious. Congratulations, all around.

Living the Dream - Ep. 11: "'The Violent Kind' - Blood, Sweat and Fears"

This is one of my favorites.  Wish we could have caught back up with the Butcher Brothers later in the festival to follow up...

Living the Dream - Ep. 10: "'The Family Jewels' - We're Here" - #Sundance

This is the first of two episodes we did with La Monde Byrd of AMC's "Mad Men," who had a short at Sundance this year called "The Family Jewels."

The Hollywood Reporter: Sundance tally: 10 titles sold during festival

While there's still an audience for indie film, and distributors looking to court it, the deal-making has been dialed down. Deals don't happen as quickly, and they aren't as big. Parties are weighing all options before walking down the contract aisle and deals continue to close weeks beyond the festival's end.

via www.hollywoodreporter.com

Click through [subscription required] for The Hollywood Reporter's roundup of Sundance sales. The above pretty much sums it up, and the article itself feels pretty complete.

Just getting back up to speed now that the festival is over, but posting here and at blog.itsonthegrid.com will be back to normal starting today.

Fleming: #Sundance Film Festival Award Winners

he Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Dramatic Film went to Winter's Bone, the Debra Granik-directed drama set deep in the Ozark Mountains, where a teenage girl heads out to find her crystal meth-making father, who has gone missing. The film was acquired earlier this evening by Roadside Attractions.

The Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Documentary was awarded to Restrepo, in which conflict journalists Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington spent a year with the men of the 173rd Airborne's Second Platoon in the Al Qaeda stronghold of the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan. The documentary was a hot ticket through the festival. Junger's writing was the basis for The Perfect Storm. The title comes from Private First Class Juan Restrepo, who was slain, and whose comrades erected an outpost in his honor. National Geographic has broadcast rights to the docu.

via www.deadline.com

Click through for the full rundown of the Sundance Film Festival award winners from tonight's ceremony.

Variety: IFC nabs 'The Killer Inside Me' - #Sundance

In the early hours of Saturday morning, another Sundance sale closed.

U.S. rights to Michael Winterbottom’s "The Killer Inside Me" sold to IFC Films for around $1.5 million.

via www.variety.com

Quite a flurry of dealmaking activity at Sundance over the past 24 hours...

Variety: Roadside Attractions picks up 'Winter's Bone'

In yet another Sundance deal, Roadside Attractions has picked up all North American distribution rights to writer/director Debra Granik's "Winter's Bone," toplining Jennifer Lawrence.

Roadside, run by indie veterans Howard Cohen and Eric D'arbeloff, was the victor of a bidding war for the drama-thriller, paying in the low- to mid-six figure range.

One suitor came in at the 11th hour with a higher offer for "Winter's Bone," but the filmmakers decided to stick with Roadside. Pact was closed midday Saturday.

Submarine's Josh Braun, who's repping the film, has been fielding interest since "Winter's Bone" premiered in dramatic competition at the Sundance Film Festival a week ago. Those circling included Samuel Goldwyn Films, Sony Pictures Classics, Apparition and the Weinstein Co, although not all submitted official bids.

via www.variety.com

Debra Granik's one of the filmmakers we were able to follow for our Sundance project this week.  Sundance just posted the 'Winter's Bone'-related episode of "Living the Dream" on their YouTube channel, and I'll post it here this weekend.

Thompson: Focus Features confirms purchase of Lisa Cholodenko's "The Kids Are All Right"

On Wednesday, as the LAT breathlessly reported that the Focus Features deal to acquire The Kids Are All Right for $3.5 million was virtually closed, writer-director Lisa Cholodenko was insisting that deal points were still outstanding.

Focus finally confirmed the deal Thursday, the biggest of this fest, with a number closer to $5 million for domestic and some foreign rights. Other smaller Sundance buys include Davis Guggenheim’s education expose Waiting for Superman (Paramount Vantage) and three films with male appeal, midnight thriller Buried (Lionsgate), starring Ryan Reynolds, Hesher (Newmarket), starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Joel Schumacher’s Twelve (Hannover House).

via blogs.indiewire.com

I had the pleasure of sitting next to Anne Thompson on the plane home from Salt Lake City tonight. I'm a big fan, and she was as gracious as it gets. Click through to see her three-part flip-cam interview with Lisa Cholodenko, director of Sundance 2010 audience favorite "The Kids Are All Right." And while you're there, scroll down to catch some of the other cool interviews Anne caught on her flip-cam at Sundance this year.

Living The Dream - Ep. 9: "'8: The Mormon Proposition' - Standing Ovation" - #Sundance

This is the third of the three webisodes that focus on "8:  The Mormon Proposition."

Living The Dream - Ep. 8: "'Douchebag' - Being Part of the Audience" - #Sundance

This is the first of three webisodes that focus on "Douchebag," which is part of the Dramatic Competition this year.

Living The Dream - Ep. 7: "'HIGH school' - Stoner Focus Groups" - #Sundance

Big ups to our Associate Producer Kailey Marsh - this episode wouldn't have been possible without her.  

Living The Dream - Ep. 6: "'8: The Mormon Proposition' [2nd episode]" - #Sundance

Here's the second of three webisodes we've done on "8: The Mormon Proposition."  

Variety: Twelve, Hesher land domestic distribution - #Sundance

Per Variety:

 

Deals came fast and furiously at Sundance over Wednesday night.

Publisher Hannover House's film and vid arm has picked up Joel Schumacher's dark teen chiller "Twelve" for around $2 million.

Plans are for a major-market theatrical rollout this year. Hannover has released a handful of titles theatrically, but until now hadn't jumped into bigger films. A private equity fund is backing title acquisitions for Hannover.

"It's a very significant investment for us," said Hannover CEO Eric Parkinson. "In order for us to really thrive, we have to step up."

"Twelve" was produced by France's Gaumont, Radar and Original Media, with CAA packaging the financing. Gaumont, both a production and a distribution company, financed "Twelve."

Gaumont sparked to the script by Jordan Melamed and wanted to make a Schumacher film. "As a low-budget indie-style film, we could go into production without pre-sales," Gaumont chairman Sidonie Dumas told Variety.

"Twelve," based on the best-selling tome by Nick McDonell, chronicles the violent and drug-fueled exploits of privileged Manhattan teens. Chace Crawford, Emma Roberts, Rory Culkin star along with 50 Cent, Ellen Barkin and Kiefer Sutherland.

Former Lionsgate and Weinstein Co. distribution chief Tom Ortenberg will consult with Hannover on the pic's North American rollout through his One Way Out Media consulting shingle.

"Twelve" is Sundance's official closer. Its first public unspooling is at Park City's Eccles theater Friday evening.

In other action, Newmarket plunked down around $1 million in an early-morning deal for the U.S. distribution rights to Spencer Susser's "Hesher." A Canadian deal for the pic is currently closing.

"Hesher" premiered here last week to mixed industry reaction but has continued to be a crowdpleaser.

Film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a mayhem-prone loner who takes up with a family still reeling from a death. Pic also features Devin Brochu, Natalie Portman and Rainn Wilson.

Living The Dream - Ep. 5: "'New Low' - Monotone" - #Sundance

"New Low" is part of Sundance's "Next" program, which focuses on sub-$500k budgeted features.  We've got a couple of additional episodes with the writer/director Adam Bowers coming up, too.

Living The Dream - Ep. 4: "'The Dry Land' - Easing Into It" - #Sundance

This will make more sense when you watch the below, but the reel for "The Dry Land" did not, in fact, burn up.  

Living The Dream - Ep. 3: "'Howl' - Upping The Stakes"

Living The Dream - Ep. 2: "'8: The Mormon Proposition' - A Personal Project"

Here's episode 2 of our Sundance web series, the first of three we've now done on "8: The Mormon Proposition."  We keep getting great material thanks to our incredible crew and Adam Bowman's tireless and excellent direction.  Several new webisodes went up on the Sundance YouTube channel today, and we should have a handful of new ones up tomorrow, too.  

Shameless Plug: "Living The Dream," our Sundance webisode series

I haven't had a chance to post about this until now, but the reason I'm at Sundance 2010 is to produce a feature documentary about the filmmaker's experience of the festival by my non-scripted producer/director client, Adam Bowman.  We'd been talking to the organizers about doing a series of webisodes throughout the festival, and we got the word Saturday afternoon that our stuff had been approved to be included on Sundance's YouTube channel.  The last couple of days have been pretty intense, but our crew has been fantastic and we've definitely hit our stride. 

We've got 7 episodes in the can now, all of which are available in the "Lost And Found" section of the Sundance YouTube channel here:  http://bit.ly/5dZ5o0  I'm going to post them here as well in a series of posts.  The first one is below, and I look forward to your thoughts.

UPDATED:  P.S.  Should have mentioned that "TUB," the short film highlighted in the below episode, is about a guy who impregnates his bathtub, which makes the comments in the episode's teaser a little more meaningful.