By MCN Editor editor@moviecitynews.com

IFC MIDNIGHT TAKES U.S. RIGHTS TO PADRAIG REYNOLDS’ RITES OF SPRING

Posted Thursday, December 15th, 2011 - Comments Off on IFC MIDNIGHT TAKES U.S. RIGHTS TO PADRAIG REYNOLDS’ RITES OF SPRING
Be Sociable, Share!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, NY (December 15, 2011) – IFC Midnight announced today that the company is acquiring U.S. rights to director Padraig Reynolds’ thriller RITES OF SPRING. The film, with a screenplay also by Reynolds, stars A.J. Bowen, Anessa Ramsey, Sonny Marinelli, Katherine Randolf, Marco St. John, Hannah Bryan, Sarah Pachelli, James Bartz, Shanna Forestall, Skylar Burke, and Andrew Breland. Bobby Benton and John Norris served as executive producers while Wes Benton and Eric Thompson produced.

In RITES OF SPRING, a group of kidnappers abduct the daughter of a wealthy socialite and hide out in an abandoned school in the middle of the woods.  But feelings of guilt soon overtake the kidnappers, dividing the group and putting their entire plan in jeopardy.  The evening further spirals out of control when their poorly chosen hideout becomes a hunting ground for a mysterious creature that requires springtime ritualistic sacrifices.

Jonathan Sehring, President of Sundance Selects/IFC Films, said: “We’re thrilled to be working with Padraig Reynolds on his immensely entertaining, genre-bending thriller.  He’s a major talent, and it is sure to be one of our most popular IFCMidnight titles next year.”

Bowen recently starred in the critically acclaimed YOU’RE NEXT which made its world premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival where it was acquired by Lionsgate.

The deal for the film was negotiated by Jeff Deutchman, Director of Acquisitions & Productions for Sundance Selects/IFC Films with Nate Bolotin of XYZ Films on behalf of the filmmakers.

IFC Midnight is a sister division to IFC Films and Sundance Selects, and is owned and operated by AMC Networks, Inc.

*                      *                      *                      *

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 Alexandre Courtes THE INCIDENT and Adrian and Romero Garcia Bogliano’s PENUMBRA. IFC Midnight is a sister division to Sundance Selects and IFC Films, and is owned and operated by AMC Networks, Inc.

About XYZ FILMS

XYZ is an LA-based production and sales company founded by Nate Bolotin, Nick Spicer, and Aram Tertzakian. In addition to handling North American sales at top-tier film festivals, XYZ is also partnered with French international sales outfit, Celluloid Dreams, for international sales. The partnership, launched in May of 2010 as “Celluloid Nightmares,” brings together the pedigree of Celluloid Dreams with the genre savvy of XYZ.  XYZ has been a leader in the independent film space since it acquired an ownership stake in leading international film site Twitch (www.twitchfilm.com) and partnered with Twitch founder, Todd Brown, to expand XYZ’s sales initiative.

About RED PLANET ENTERTAINMENT, LLC

Established in 1980 withoffices in Ridgeland and Biloxi, Mississippi, Suwanee, Georgia, and BeverlyHills, California. Red Planet Entertainment (RPE) with its sister companies, Red Planet Services (RPS) and GhostRider Entertainment (GRE), provide full services to the film industry. RPE offers services from pre-production through post-production. RPS deals with all aspects of production services, i.e. rolling stock and expendables. GRE produces films for RPE or in conjunction with others. For more information go to www.redplanetentertainment.com

# # #

Be Sociable, Share!

Posted in Movie City News, Press Releases | Comments Off on IFC MIDNIGHT TAKES U.S. RIGHTS TO PADRAIG REYNOLDS’ RITES OF SPRING

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