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ICARUS FILMS Announces acquisition of PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATES

Posted Wednesday, September 21st, 2011 - Comments Off on ICARUS FILMS Announces acquisition of PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATES
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For Immediate Release: September 21, 2011

Jonathan Miller, President of the film distribution company Icarus Films announced today that Icarus Films has acquired Program Development Associates – a leading distributor of DVDs, multimedia training and educational resources on disability related topics.

Following Icarus Films’ acquisition two years ago of the FANLIGHT PRODUCTIONS COLLECTION – of 400 health care-related films and DVDs, the addition of the Program Development Associates collection of over 600 DVD titles and other resources, will enable the customers of both companies to access the best and most suitable films and DVDs to meet their different (and often specific) needs, while also helping the titles distributed by both companies to reach wider audiences.

Miller said, “Even as we continue and expand our commitment to the distribution of classic, auteur and major creative documentaries to theatrical and home entertainment markets with the release of Patricio Guzmán’s NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT this year, Icarus Films remains dedicated to the nontheatrical markets. I believe that the ability we have to cross promote the films we represent to different, but complementary audiences and communities, and up and down the different media markets, gives us the flexibility and reach to ensure that every film we release reaches as wide and engaged an audience as possible.”

About the companies:

Founded in 1978, Icarus Films is a leading distributor of documentary and art films in North America, with a library of 800 titles and releasing approximately 50 new films each year. The collection, mostly independent productions, features innovative and provocative films about our changing world. Recent releases include NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT (Patricio Guzmán) and 2010 Academy Award-nominated RABBIT Ã LA BERLIN (Bartek Konopka & Piotr Roslowski). Current new releases include the 2011 Sundance selection THE NINE MUSES (John Akomfrah) opening at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City on October 6, 2011 and EL SICARIO, ROOM 164 (Gianfranco Rossi and Charles Bowden) opening at Film Forum in New York City on December 28, 2011.

In 2009, Icarus Films acquired the Fanlight Productions Collection of 400 titles – educational media with a special focus on health care, mental health, aging, disabilities, and related issues.

Program Development Associates, founded in 1985, supplies disability professionals in social service agencies, k-12 special education teachers in public and private schools, Human Resource trainers in business, and instructors in college classrooms with well researched program content that has been developed and tested by disability experts. The collection includes 600 videos, DVDs, CDs, printed workbooks and reference guides, gaming software and interactive board games on topics ranging from disability awareness, inclusion, professional development, advocacy and assistive technology, to physical, developmental, learning disabilities and vocational rehab.

Program Development Associates, combined with Fanlight Productions award-winning documentaries on disabilities, allows Icarus Films to now offer the most comprehensive collection of multimedia resources in the field of disability awareness.

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