By MCN Editor editor@moviecitynews.com

RED FLAG RELEASING ACQUIRES SUNDANCE FAVORITE “WE WERE HERE”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“WE WERE HERE” To Open Theatrically in North America September 2011

RED FLAG TO PARTNER WITH FILMMAKERS AND THE FILM  COLLABORATIVE (TFC) IN COMPREHENSIVE RELEASE

Los Angeles – April 20, 2011 – Red Flag Releasing announced today that it has acquired “WE WERE HERE,” produced and directed by David Weissman and editor/co-director Bill Weber.  The film recently world premiered at the Sundance Film Festival followed by the Berlin International Film Festival.  Red Flag will theatrically release the film in September 2011.

WE WERE HERE is the first documentary to take a deep and reflective look back at the impact of the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco when it was first identified 30 years ago this year. It explores how the City’s inhabitants were affected by, and responded to the calamitous epidemic.  WE WERE HERE reaches beyond San Francisco and the human toll of AIDS itself. It is an inspirational film that speaks to the human capacity of individuals to rise to the occasion, and to the incredible collective power of a community coming together with love, compassion, and determination.

Red Flag Releasing will distribute the film in partnership with the filmmakers, The Film Collaborative, New Video and PBS’ Independent Lens, creating a release pattern fitting for this incredibly moving look into the tragedy and eventual triumph of a community organizing to respond to the AIDS epidemic.  The film’s release will include theatrical, OnDemand, DVD, digital download channels, and television (in spring 2012), as well as an educational/non-theatrical outreach component through New Yorker Films. The film’s worldwide producer’s rep Jonathan Dana and TFC’s Orly Ravid orchestrated the deals.

David Weissman and Bill Weber previously made the acclaimed 2001 documentary, The Cockettes, also repped by Dana, which chronicled San Francisco’s legendary theater troupe of hippies and drag queens from 1969 – 1972.  WE WERE HERE revisits the city a decade later, as its flourishing gay community is hit with an unimaginable disaster.

“We Were Here” richly deserves the first class treatment it will receive across all windows and platforms – a real ‘Distribution 2.0’ strategy in action. We couldn’t be happier,” said Dana.

“I felt strongly that this film needed to be made by someone who’d lived through the onset of AIDS – the horror, and beauty – of those years. So it’s deeply gratifying to have partners in distribution who fully share my passion that this history not be forgotten.” said Weissman.

“We are proud to be releasing this powerful film.  It is an affirmation of the community’s great strides over the last 30 years, and honors the many friends we’ve lost along the way,” said Paul Federbush of Red Flag Releasing.

“We were deeply moved by WE WERE HERE at its premiere, when we committed to helping David and Bill reach a larger home audience through digital and DVD release,” said Mark Kashden, V.P. Acquisitions, New Video.  “We look forward to working with such capable partners on a successful campaign.”

Independent Lens is extremely pleased to present the television premiere of David Weissman’s deeply moving, seminal film,” said Lois Vossen, Independent Lens Series Producer. “WE WERE HERE is a brave testament to millions of Americans who suffered from HIV AIDS, and to the extraordinary men and women who cared for them.  Like The Times of Harvey Milk, this unflinching, important film will become a touchstone for future generations looking to understand this historic time.”

About Red Flag Releasing

Red Flag Releasing (RFR) is an independent film distribution company formed by Paul Federbush and Laura Kim, and NY-based producer Ron Stein.  Federbush and Kim, as senior executives at Warner Independent Pictures, worked on the acquisition and release of such films as Oscar®-winning documentary March of the Penguins, as well as Oscar®-nominated films Good Night, and Good Luck. and Paradise Now.  Federbush also acquired and worked as a production executive on Oscar®-winning film Slumdog Millionaire.  As a marketing consultant, Kim has spearheaded the marketing and awards campaigns for films such as the Oscar®-nominated Restrepo (National Geographic Entertainment) and helped execute the PR campaign for Winter’s Bone (Roadside Attractions).  RFR’s first release, 8:The Mormon Proposition was recently nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Best Documentary.

About The Film Collaborative

The Film Collaborative (TFC) — the first non-profit devoted to distribution education and facilitation for independent film. We offer a full range of affordable educational, distribution and marketing services to independent filmmakers looking for distribution sustainability and to reach traditionally underserved audiences. Launched in early 2010 TFC has already provided its services to more than 75 independent films, such as Sundance Award Winners We Live in PublicGasLand and Undertow, and SXSW Award Winners Made in China and Weekend.

About New Video

Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2011, New Video is a leading entertainment distributor and the largest aggregator of independent digital content worldwide. Headquartered in New York City, with an international presence in 45 territories, the company delivers feature films, TV programs and web originals via digital download, streaming media, video-on-demand, Blu-ray and DVD. New Video streamlines the distribution and marketing process for filmmakers, producers and brand partners to bring a wide variety of fresh content to new audiences. The company’s library includes original TV series and movies from A&E®, HISTORY™, and Lifetime®, unforgettable games and trophy sets from Major League Baseball®, storybook treasures from Scholastic®, award-winning documentaries from Docurama Films®, Arthouse Films, and Plexifilm, next-gen indies and web hits from Flatiron Film Company® and festival picks from Tribeca Film. New Video is proud to distribute the 2011 Oscar®-nominated films GaslandWaste Land and, on digital, Restrepo.

About Independent Lens

Independent Lens is an Emmy® Award-winning weekly series airing on PBS. The acclaimed anthology series features documentaries and a limited number of fiction films united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement, and unflinching visions of their independent producers. Independent Lens features unforgettable stories about unique individuals, communities, and moments in history. Presented by the Independent Television Service (ITVS), the series is supported by interactive companion websites and national publicity and community engagement campaigns. Independent Lens is jointly curated by ITVS and PBS, and is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, with additional funding provided by PBS and the National Endowment for the Arts. The series producer is Lois Vossen.

#  # #

Be Sociable, Share!

Comments are closed.

Quote Unquotesee all »

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?

So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.

And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.

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.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher

“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.

~ David Simon