TOLDJA! Indomina-BET Buy Sundance ‘LUV’

By MIKE FLEMING | Saturday February 11, 2012 @ 6:37am PSTTags: 2012 Sundance, Berlin, BET Networks, LUV
Mike Fleming

Deadline revealed exclusively Wednesday that Indomina acquired North American theatrical distribution rights to LUV. And that a significant TV component was part of the deal 7-figure deal brokered by ICM and Cinetic. BET is the TV piece. The film is now being screened for international buyers at EFM in Berlin. Here’s the official announcement:

Los Angeles, CA (February 11, 2012) – LUV, the dramatic thriller which premiered at Sundance in the feature competition, has been acquired by The Indomina Group and BET Networks. The film will receive a significant North America theatrical release from Indomina, tentatively set for Fall 2012, followed by a broadcast premiere on BET – which has acquired television rights exclusive in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean, as well as certain ancillary rights on other platforms.

LUV (n.b. All Caps) is directed by Sheldon Candis and written by Candis and Justin Wilson. The film stars Common, Michael Rainey Jr., Dennis Haysbert, Danny Glover, Charles S. Dutton, Meagan Good, Lonette McKee and Michael Kenneth Williams.

LUV follows 11-year-old Woody Watson, a timid Baltimore orphan who dreams of a better life — and awaits the return of his absent mother. Woody also reveres his uncle Vincent as the father figure he never had. A street hustler and former drug dealer, Vincent’s fresh off an eight-year stint in prison and wants a new direction.

When Vincent bypasses his nephew’s school one day and offers to show Woody how a man handles his business, Woody jumps at the opportunity to join his uncle on a field trip of life lessons. But the temptations of Vincent’s old life of crime return to haunt him, and a day once bright with optimism quickly spirals downward into a world of violence. Coming of age all too fast by day’s end, Woody starts to doubt his hero and ultimately must decide where to stand.

Indomina Vice Chairman and CEO Jasbinder Singh Mann said, “‘LUV’ is a highly engaging film with resounding performances from a brilliant cast. It has everything we look for in a film and we believe it will resonate with audiences.”

BET’s President of Original Programing, Loretha Jones, said “We’re excited to add LUV to the existing slate of films that constitute a significant part of our programming. It has an outstanding cast, and tells a compelling story that is not only entertaining, but relatable for the BET audience.”

“I’m delighted to have found such a great home with two forward thinking companies like Indomina and BET,” said Candis.

The film’s producers are Jason Michael Berman, W. Michael Jenson, Gordon Bijelonic, Datari Turner, Joel Newton, James R. Rosenthal, Common and Derek Dudley. The executive producers are Thomas B. Fore, Michael Finley, Dwayne Robinson, Sandra R. Berman, Mark G. Mathis, Steven Saxton and Mary Vernieu. LUV features original music by Interscope artist Blaqstarr.

The deals were negotiated by Cinetic Media and ICM on behalf of the filmmakers; Senior Vice President of Distribution and Marketing, Bruce Kirkland, and Vice President of Acquisitions, Rob Williams on behalf of Indomina, and Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Darrell E. Walker on behalf of BET Networks. International rights are being represented by Eric Christenson of Hollywood Studios International, with the film screening this week at the European Film Market. Candis and Wilson are represented by Jeremy Platt and Jelani Johnson at Generate. ICM also represents Michael Rainey, Jr., Danny Glover and producer Jason Michael Berman.

Recent acquisitions for The Indomina Group’s releasing division include Ice-T’s performance documentary “Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap,” that was acquired this year at Sundance Film Festival, “A Fantastic Fear of Everything” starring Simon Pegg, and the thriller “Life Without Principle” – the newest film from internationally acclaimed director/producer and contemporary maestro of Hong Kongese action cinema Johnnie To.

In 2011 Indomina released the highly acclaimed epic adventure “Detective Dee and The Mystery of the Phantom Flame” directed by Tsui Hark, one of the highest grossing Chinese films at the US box office in recent years; the romantic comedy “Griff the Invisible,” starring Ryan Kwanten (“True Blood”); Yuen Woo Ping’s martial arts feature “True Legend,” starring Vincent Zhao, Zhou Xun, Michelle Yeoh and the late David Carradine; and Teddy Chan’s award-wining “Bodyguards & Assassins.”

Indomina is teaming with Samuel L. Jackson to produce a new live action “Afro Samurai” film based on the popular animated series that has spawned an impressive franchise and a global following.

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WME Signs ‘I Am Not A Hipster’ Director And Star

By BRIAN BROOKS | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 8:09am PSTTags: Deston Daniel Cretton, Dominic Bogart, I Am Not A Hipster, WME

EXCLUSIVE: WME has signed Destin Daniel Cretton, director of this year’s Sundance feature I Am Not A Hipster, as well as the film’s lead Dominic Bogart. Cretton’s next feature project will be Short Term 12, a film based … Read More »

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Indomina Buying 2012 Sundance Film ‘LUV’

By MIKE FLEMING | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 4:02pm PSTTags: 2012 Sundance Film Festival, Indomina, LUV
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: I’m told that Indomina Entertainment is making a distribution deal on LUV, the Sheldon Candis-directed film that premiered January 23 at the Eccles Theatre. The deal will be in the low seven-figures and includes a TV component. This comes … Read More »

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Sundance Kubrick Doc ‘Room 237′ Lands At IFC Films

By BRIAN BROOKS | Wednesday February 8, 2012 @ 10:00am PSTTags: 2012 Sundance Film Festival, Room 237, Stanley Kubrick, The Shining

Exclusive: IFC Films has picked up Sundance ’12 Stanley Kubrick doc Room 237. A world premiere in the festival’s New Frontier section, the experimental documentary directed by Rodney Ascher explores the numerous theories about the “real meaning” of … Read More »

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Anchor Bay Picks Up Sundance’s ‘Excision’

By BRIAN BROOKS | Tuesday February 7, 2012 @ 11:50am PSTTags: Anchor Bay Films, Exicision, Sundance

Sundance’s Park City at Midnight premiere Excision is headed to North America via Anchor Bay Films, which picked up the film by first-time feature writer-director Richard Bates Jr. Produced by Dylan Hale Lewis, the horror pic’s cast includes … Read More »

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Kino Lorber Acquires Sundance Doc ‘5 Broken Cameras’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday February 3, 2012 @ 10:28am PSTTags: 5 Broken Cameras, Kino Lorber

Kino Lorber has picked up U.S. and Canadian rights to 5 Broken Cameras, the documentary about a Palestinian family and its part in protesting the Israeli occupation of its village. The film won the World Cinema Directing Award at Sundance … Read More »

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Myriad Takes International Rights To ‘Nobody Walks’: Sundance

By BRIAN BROOKS | Tuesday January 31, 2012 @ 12:37pm PSTTags: European Film Market, Myriad Pictures, Nobody Walks, Ry-Russo Young

Nobody Walks, the Ry Russo-Young film that stars John Krasinski, Olivia Thirlby and Rosemarie DeWitt and sold to Magnolia Pictures for the U.S. during its Sundance premiere, now has an international rights deal. Myriad Pictures acquired the … Read More »

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Mel Gibson Action Film ‘Get The Gringo’ Bypasses Theaters With VOD Deals At Fox And DirecTV

By MIKE FLEMING | Tuesday January 31, 2012 @ 9:48am PSTTags: DirecTV, Fox, Get The Gringo, Mel Gibson
Mike Fleming

Mel Gibson Get The GringoEXCLUSIVE: The acquisitions market at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival was all about deals that combined small theatrical releases with major day-and-date VOD and DVD. But no major star has dared to bypass theaters to gamble on ancillary distribution with a project that is right in his wheelhouse. Until now. Mel Gibson’s Icon Productions has made an innovative deal with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment for a domestic direct-to-consumer release of Get The Gringo, a south-of-the-border gritty action film that Gibson stars in and financed. The film has been set for an exclusive premiere window May 1 on DirecTV, which will charge $10.99 per home viewing. A wider release on Blu-ray, VOD, and digital download will follow later in the year. DirecTV, which has almost 20 million subscribers, has the exclusive on the film for more than a month, and it moves to other VOD menus by early summer. Read More »

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Frank Langella Joins ‘The Time Being’

By MIKE FLEMING | Monday January 30, 2012 @ 3:10pm PSTTags: Frank Langella, Robot & Frank, The Time Being, Wes Bentley
Mike Fleming

After receiving strong reviews at Sundance for his performance in Robot & Frank, Frank Langella has joined another two-hander. He’ll star in the indie The Time Being, alongside Wes Bentley. Richard Gladstein is producing and also co-wrote the script with … Read More »

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OSCAR Q&A: Harvey Weinstein On ‘The Artist,’ Dueling Best Actress Contenders, And Indie Film In The VOD Age

By MIKE FLEMING | Monday January 30, 2012 @ 8:00am PSTTags: Harvey Weinstein, Q&A, The Artist
Mike Fleming

One day before Harvey Weinstein’s films got 16 Oscar nominations, we sat down in Park City to discuss everything from the Oscar race to the slow pace of acquisitions at Sundance, to how important day-and-date theatrical and VOD releases will be to the independent film business. And how, after The King’s Speech was an underdog that roared past The Social Network to win Best Picture last year, Weinstein is in the uncharacteristic position of being the frontrunner with The Artist. The film has gained momentum, winning the PGA Award, as well as the DGA prize for director Michel Hazanavicius. Last night, Jean Dujardin was named Outstanding Male Actor In a Leading Role at the SAG Awards.

DEADLINE: Last year at this time, I asked you to explain why The King’s Speech was a worthy Best Picture candidate against the hipper Social Network. The Artist certainly was a prototypical Oscar film–in 1929.  Why does a black and white silent film deserve Best Picture in this era of cutting age VFX and 3D?
WEINSTEIN: There is that great line in the song in Casablanca, “the fundamental things apply, as time goes by.” We can always relate to the story of a man who is up and then falls and then gets replaced by new technology. It’s how I feel every day; I still can’t even operate my Blackberry and my kids laugh at me. This story deals with what’s happening to all of us, facing a world that is changing too fast, as his world is changing too fast.  And it’s deeply emotional and a love story, and you feel fabulous at the end of it. Great stories never go away. Read More »

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FilmDistrict Acquires ‘Safety Not Guaranteed’: Sundance

By MIKE FLEMING | Sunday January 29, 2012 @ 8:18pm PSTTags: FilmDistrict, Safety Not Guaranteed, Sundance
Mike Fleming

FilmDistrict acquired U.S. rights to the Colin Trevorrow-directed film Safety Not Guaranteed, which debuted at Sundance last Sunday at the Library Center Theatre. The romantic comedy starts when three magazine employees investigate a personal ad placed in the paper, … Read More »

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Weinstein Company Seals ‘Lay The Favorite’ Deal: Sundance

By MIKE FLEMING | Sunday January 29, 2012 @ 12:00pm PSTTags: Bruce Willis, Harvey Weinstein, Lay The Favorite, Stephen Frears, Sundance, The Weinstein Company
Mike Fleming

BREAKING: One day after the close of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, The Weinstein Company has finally closed a film acquisition deal. TWC completed a U.S. rights deal on the Stephen Frears-directed Lay the Favorite, the D.V. DeVincentis-scripted adaptation of … Read More »

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Laughter, Tears, And A Group Flip Off At 2012 Sundance Awards Show

By BRIAN BROOKS | Saturday January 28, 2012 @ 8:52pm PSTTags: Anthony Mackie, Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Bingham Ray, John Cooper

Sundance Awards 2012: ‘Beasts Of The Southern Wild’ And ‘The House I Live In’ Win Grand Jury Prizes, ‘The Surrogate’ Cast

Tonight’s Sundance Film Festival Awards ceremony was an emotional roller coaster. The event began characteristically late with a parade of Sundance staff taking to the stage with a tiara and an apology from Festival Director John Cooper who said that actress Parker Posey wouldn’t emcee as originally scheduled because she had taken ill. “She was going to be the Sundance Queen,” Cooper said while displaying her regalia for the evening. As a last minute stand in, Black Rock director Katie Aselton took over for Posey.

Then the light mood turned dark as a large picture of indie maverick Bingham Ray who died here earlier in the week flashed on the screen. The room went silent and Cooper read from a eulogy put together by Ray’s longtime poker buddies: Magnolia Pictures chief Eamonn Bowles, Sony Classics SVP Tom Prassis, Sawyer Studios head Arnie Sawyer, and producer Ben Barenholtz. Cooper choked back tears and had to stop briefly to regain his composure. Afterward, there was quiet applause. And the show went on.

Without Posey the onstage antics were minimal. Most winners skipped acceptance speeches after Cooper advised, “Just say thank you and go on,” and Aselton added, “Really, nobody really cares…”

But then director Alison Klayman (Ai Weiwie: Never Sorry) collected her Special Jury Prize claiming she was “too nervous to say much”. She gave some quick thanks — and then asked the audience to lift a hand and give the finger en masse. She took a photo and explained, “I’ll send this to Ai Weiwei” – a gesture in support of China’s most famous visual artist who has been in and out of house arrest.
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Sundance Awards 2012: ‘Beasts Of The Southern Wild’ And ‘The House I Live In’ Win Grand Jury Prizes, ‘The Surrogate’ Cast

By BRIAN BROOKS | Saturday January 28, 2012 @ 6:40pm PSTTags: 2012 Sundance Film Festival Awards, independent film awards

Laughter, Tears, And A Group Flip Off At 2012 Sundance Awards Show

Park City, UT — Sundance Institute this evening announced the Jury, Audience, NEXT and other special awards of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony. It was supposed to be hosted by Parker Posey but organizes said she was ill and couldn’t attend.  “Every year the Sundance Film Festival brings to light exciting new directions and fresh voices in independent film, and this year is no different,” said John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival. “While these awards further distinguish those that have had the most impact on audiences and our jury, the level of talent showcased across the board at the Festival was really impressive, and all are to be congratulated and thanked for sharing their work with us.” Cooper led a tribute to Bingham Ray, the indie exec who passed away during the fest.

The 2012 Sundance Film Festival Awards this evening were:

Grand Jury Prize, Dramatic:
Beasts Of The Southern Wild
U.S.A. (Director: Benh Zeitlin, Screenwriters: Benh Zeitlin, Lucy Alibar)
Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna rerun from the grave, and everything south of the levee is goin’ under, in this tale of a six year old named Hushpuppy, who lives with her daddy at the edge of the world. Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry.
Benh Zeitlin’s acceptance speech: “We should have a thousand people up here. We had more freedom to make this film than any other first time filmmaker has had in America. I hope this movie is a flag that goes up to producers and everyone to allow directors to explore the world creatively and go to the bottom of the earth. It’s great we could be as wild as we could be…”

Grand Jury Prize, Documentary:
The House I Live In
U.S.A. (Director: Eugene Jarecki) — For over 40 years, the War on Drugs has accounted for 45 million arrests, made America the world’s largest jailer and damaged poor communities at home and abroad. Yet, drugs are cheaper, purer and more available today than ever. Where did we go wrong and what is the path toward healing?
Eugene Jarecki’s acceptance speech: “Many years ago someone in the audience here inspired this film. She inspired me to be concerned about social justice. It set myself and my team on this journey to find out about what’s happening to African American families because of the war on drugs. We have 2.3 million people in prison in this country, more than anywhere else. I hope that this film is a vessel to [show] something that is so tragically immoral. If we’re going to reform things in this country for non violent crime for sentences longer than even murder in this country must end! I thank all those men and women who shared their stories with us and thank Sundance. Perhaps this can send a message out to the country…”

Special Jury Prize Dramatic for Ensemble Acting:
The cast of The Surrogate including John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy
U.S.A. — Mark O’Brien, a 36-year-old poet and journalist in an iron lung, decides he no longer wishes to be a virgin. With the help of his therapist and the guidance of his priest, he contacts a professional sex surrogate to take him on a journey to manhood.
Read More »

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Indomina Buys Ice-T’s ‘The Art of Rap’: Sundance

By MIKE FLEMING | Saturday January 28, 2012 @ 5:30pm PSTTags: Ice-T, Indomina, Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap, Sundance
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Indomina is closing a world rights deal for Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap, the Ice-T and Andy Baybutt-directed documentary about the art of hip-hop. I’m told Indomina is planning a meaningful theatrical release in the early summer. … Read More »

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Spike Lee’s ‘Red Hook Summer’ Co-Producer On Racial Stereotypes In Movies: Sundance

By MIKE FLEMING | Saturday January 28, 2012 @ 4:41pm PSTTags: James McBride, Red Hook Summer, Spike Lee
Mike Fleming

When Spike Lee premiered Red Hook Summer at Sundance, media seemed to disregard everything he had to say, save for a short diatribe about how Hollywood doesn’t understand how to depict African Americans in film. His co-producer and co-writer James McBride wrote a thoughtful essay on the subject that appeared on Lee’s 40 Acres.com website, which is part of Lee’s 40 Acres and a Mule film company. I just caught up with it, and though it worth repeating. Lee’s 1986 film She’s Gotta Have It was, along with Steven Soderbergh’s sex lies & videotape and a few others, a seminal film that helped author the independent film revolution that is personified by Sundance.
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Magnolia Acquires Polarizing ‘Compliance’

By MIKE FLEMING | Saturday January 28, 2012 @ 3:54pm PSTTags: Compliance, Sundance
Mike Fleming

Park City, UT – January 28, 2012– The Wagner/Cuban Company’s Magnolia Pictures announced today they have acquired US rights to COMPLIANCE, a harrowing thriller from writer/director Craig Zobel, that bowed last week at the Sundance Film Festival to controversy and critical acclaim. Magnolia previously collaborated with Zobel on Great World of Sound, which premiered at Sundance in 2007. COMPLIANCE was produced by Sophia Lin, Lisa Muskat, Tyler Davidson, Theo Sena and Zobel. The deal was negotiated for Magnolia by SVP of Acquisitions Dori Begley with John Sloss and Dana O’Keefe of Cinetic Media. Magnolia is planning a theatrical release later this year.

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Sundance: 10 Producers To Keep Watching

By BRIAN BROOKS | Saturday January 28, 2012 @ 3:39pm PSTTags: 2012 Sundance Film Festival, indie film producers

Sundance has no shortage of producers and producers-to-be scurrying around Park City. So Deadline has assembled a Top 10 to keep an eye on post-fest. Some are fairly new to producing while others more established but all their careers are moving up:

Dan Janvey, Josh … Read More »

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‘Marina Abramovic The Artist Is Present’ Sells Offshore: Sundance

By MIKE FLEMING | Saturday January 28, 2012 @ 1:38pm PSTTags: Marina Abramovic, Sundance
Mike Fleming

Sundance Film Festival — January 28, 2012 — Submarine Entertainment announced today that it has sold Australia, New Zealand, and South African rights to Matthew Aker’s film MARINA ABRAMOVIC THE ARTIST IS PRESENT to Madman Entertainment. The deal was

… Read More »

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