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IFC MIDNIGHT TAKES ALL NORTH AMERICAN RIGHTS TO JUSTIN KURZEL’S SNOWTOWN AT CANNES

Posted Friday, May 20th, 2011 - Comments Off on IFC MIDNIGHT TAKES ALL NORTH AMERICAN RIGHTS TO JUSTIN KURZEL’S SNOWTOWN AT CANNES
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Cannes, FRANCE (May 20, 2011) – IFC Midnight announced today from the 2011 Cannes Film Festival that the company is acquiring all North American rights to Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel’s psychological thriller SNOWTOWN from Protagonist Pictures. The directorial debut for Kurzel, with a screenplay by Shaun Grant, stars Lucas Pittaway, Daniel Henshall, and Louise Harris.  The film is the first feature from the newly formed Warp Australia, an offshoot of Warp Films in the UK, and was produced by Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw.  Arriving with much buzz after winning the Audience Award at the Adelaide Film Festival, the film was just awarded a special citation last night by the Critics’ Week jury. The film is also in competition for the Camera d’Or.

Based on a true story, SNOWTOWN follows sixteen-year-old Jamie (Pittaway) who begins a friendship with a charismatic older man (Henshall).  As the relationship grows, so do Jamie’s suspicions, until he finds his world threatened by both his loyalty for, and fear of, his newfound father-figure.  The older man Jamie befriended was John Bunting, Australia’s most notorious serial killer.

Jonathan Sehring, President of Sundance Selects/IFC Films, said: “SNOWTOWN is a phenomenal debut film that announces Justin Kurzel as a major new voice.  We are thrilled to introduce him to American audiences and happy to continue our relationship with Protagonist Pictures after In The Loop and our upcoming release Kill List.”

The deal for the film was negotiated by Arianna Bocco, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions & Productions, and Jeff Deutchman, Manager of Acquisitions & Productions, for Sundance Selects/IFC Films with Ben Roberts, CEO of Protagonist Pictures, on behalf of the filmmakers.

IFC Midnight’s sister division Sundance Selects picked up several other titles at this week’s festival including U.S. rights to Julia Leigh’s SLEEPING BEAUTY; all North American rights to writer/director Bertrand Bonello’s HOUSE OF TOLERANCE; a pre-buy of all U.S. rights to writer/director Mia Hansen Love’s GOODBYE FIRST LOVE; and all U.S. rights to Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s THE KID WITH A BIKE.

IFC Midnight is a sister division to IFC Films and Sundance Selects, and is owned and operated by Rainbow Media.

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About IFC MIDNIGHT

Established in 2010 and based in New York City, IFC Midnight is a leading U.S. distributor of genre entertainment including horror, science-fiction, thrillers, erotic art house, action and more.  Its unique distribution model makes independent genre 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 have included Tom Six’s controversial horror film The Human Centipede (First Sequence), Johnnie To’s Hong Kong revenge thriller Vengeance, and James Gunn’s Super starring Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page and Kevin Bacon. Upcoming IFC Midnight releases include Miguel Angel Vivas’ powerful and shocking home invasion flick Kidnapped and Tom Six’s highly anticipated frightfest The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence). IFC Midnight is a sister division to Sundance Selects and IFC Films, 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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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.”
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