By MCN Editor editor@moviecitynews.com

IFC FILMS TAKES U.S. RIGHTS TO MATTHEW CHAPMAN’S THE LEDGE

Posted Monday, January 24th, 2011 - Comments Off on IFC FILMS TAKES U.S. RIGHTS TO MATTHEW CHAPMAN’S THE LEDGE
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THEATRICAL RELEASE PLANNED FOR LATE SPRING

Park City, UT (January 24, 2011) – IFC FILMS announced today from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival that the company acquired the U.S. rights to THE LEDGE. The film, which is playing in the U.S. Dramatic Competition premiered this past Friday.  THE LEDGE, directed and written by Matthew Chapman, stars Charlie Hunnam (SONS OF ANARCHY), Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson, Terrence Howard, and Christopher Gorham (UGLY BETTY).  The film is produced by Mark Damon and Michael Mailer.

In this race-against-time thriller, the opposing philosophies of two men embroiled in a complicated love triangle with a beautiful woman (Tyler) escalate into a lethal battle of wills.  Ultimately, the believer (Wilson) forces the non-believer (Hunnam) onto the ledge of a tall building.  He gives him one hour to make a choice between his own life and someone else’s, a while a policeman (Howard) tries to convince him to come down. Without faith of an afterlife, will he be capable of such a sacrifice?  THE LEDGE is a nuanced character study of love and conviction that will force you to ask how far you’d be willing to go for what you believe in.

Jonathan Sehring, President of Sundance Selects/IFC Films, said: “THE LEDGE is a well crafted and morally complex thriller that will really get people talking.”

“These days, there are many new and innovative ways to distribute a film, and new techniques are constantly evolving.   IFC is at the forefront of cutting edge independent distribution, and it is their unique approach that convinced us they were the right theatrical distributor for THE LEDGE,” says producer Mark Damon.

Adds director Matthew Chapman, ” Having watched THE LEDGE play to audiences in Sundance and seeing  their reactions, I believe that with the help of IFC Films we will reach the widest audience possible, which was always my intention.”

The deal was negotiated by Arianna Bocco, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions & Productions for Sundance Selects/IFC Films and Betsy Rodgers, Vice President of Business and Legal Afffairs for Sundance Selects/IFC Films with Cassian Elwes and Kevin Iwashina of Preferred Content, on behalf of Foresight Unlimited.

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About IFC FILMS

Established in 2000 and based in New York City, IFC Films is a leading U.S. distributor of quality talent-driven independent film.  Its unique distribution model makes independent films available to a national audience by releasing them in theaters as well as on cable’s Video On Demand (VOD) platform, reaching nearly 50 million homes. Some of the company’s successes over the years have included My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Touching the Void, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Gomorrah, Che,Summer Hours, Antichrist, In the Loop, Antichrist, Wordplay, Cairotime, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, Tiny Furniture and Carlos.  Over the years, IFC Films has worked with established and breakout auteurs, including Steven Soderbergh, Gus Van Sant, Spike Lee, Richard Linklater, Miranda July, Lars Von Trier, Gaspar Noe, Todd Solondz, Cristian Mungiu, Susanne Bier, Olivier Assayas, Jim McKay, Larry Fessenden, Gregg Araki, Jacques Rivette, Claude Chabrol, as well as more recent breakouts such as Andrea Arnold, Mia Hansen Love, Corneliu Porombiou, Joe Swanberg, Barry Jenkins, Lena Dunham, Aaron Katz, Daryl Wein and Abdellatif Kechiche. IFC Films is a sister division to Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight, and is owned and operated by Rainbow Media.

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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

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There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

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~ David Simon