By MCN Editor editor@moviecitynews.com

PHASE 4 FILMS ACQUIRES ANDREW EDISON & LUKE LOFTIN’S BINDLESTIFFS AS THE FIRST FILM FOR ITS “KEVIN SMITH’S SMODCAST PICTURES PRESENTS” LABEL

Posted Friday, March 9th, 2012 - Comments Off on PHASE 4 FILMS ACQUIRES ANDREW EDISON & LUKE LOFTIN’S BINDLESTIFFS AS THE FIRST FILM FOR ITS “KEVIN SMITH’S SMODCAST PICTURES PRESENTS” LABEL
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Los Angeles, CA (March 9, 2012) – Berry Meyerowitz, President & CEO of Phase 4 Films, announced today that the company has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to writer-director Andrew Edison’s groundbreaking high school comedy BINDLESTIFFS. This is the first film to be released under the company’s new “Kevin Smith’s SModcast Pictures Presents” banner. Edison wrote the screenplay with Luke Loftin, and the two also produced (with Mike Akel and Matt Patterson) and star in the film. BINDLESTIFFS made its world premiere at the 2012 Slamdance Film Festival where it took home the Audience Award for Best Feature Narrative. Phase 4 will release the film in June, in conjunction with an event theatrical tour and Q&A’s with Kevin Smith and the filmmakers.

This weekend, Meyerowitz and the Phase 4 team will be on the ground with Kevin Smith and his SModcast Pictures team at the South By Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) looking for other films for the label.

In BINDLESTIFFS, three smart-mouthed high school virgins, suspended from school on a graffiti charge, flee to the inner city to live out the plot of The Catcher in the Rye.

““BINDLESTIFFS is the perfect first film for us to release under our new partnership with Kevin Smith,” said Meyerowitz.  “It is raunchy, outrageous and shockingly funny, and showcases the immense talents of Andrew Edison and Luke Loftin.  The support that we and Kevin will bring to the film will expose it to millions of fans and help turn it into a classic.”

“SModcast Pictures Presents is ecstatic about our first feature,” said Smith, “a ballsy high school comedy that was conceived by real, live high schoolers (who are actually way funnier than the 20-something adults who usually play teens in movies)! This mind-bendingly original and gut-bustingly hysterical first film is so confidently made and one-of-a-kind, I cannot wait to stand on a stage beside the BINDLESTIFFS boys andsmell the room after the audience has pissed themselves laughing at their debut film.”

“We are beyond stoked to have Kevin Smith present BINDLESTIFFS,” said Edison and Loftin. “If he didn’t already pave the way with Clerks for films like ours to find an audience, he is definitely doing that now in his partnership with Phase 4. For us, this is truly a dream come true.”

Phase 4 and SModcast Pictures’ distribution partnership, which was announced in early 2012, will allow Phase 4 to acquire exclusive rights to exhibit and distribute up to twelve films per year under Smith’s banner.  Phase 4 will release four of these films theatrically each year, and these will include a live tour with Kevin Smith. To submit a film for consideration under the “Kevin Smith’s SModcast Pictures Presents” label, please email SMacquisitions@phase4films.com.

The deal for BINDLESTIFFS was negotiated by Phase 4’s Larry Greenberg and Katharyn Howe with WME Global and Caliber Media on behalf of the filmmakers.

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About PHASE 4 FILMS

Phase 4 Films distributes feature films and special interest content across all traditional and new media platforms in North America.  The company’s previous releases include Kevin Smith’s tour of RED STATE, starring Michael Parks, Melissa Leo and John Goodman; VIDAL SASSOON THE MOVIE, director Craig Teper’s revealing and inspirationalportrait of the iconic hairdresser who changed the world with a pair of scissors; Matt Tyrnauer’s acclaimed fashion documentary VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR; and Sundance 2011 award-winner ANOTHER HAPPY DAY, Sam Levinson’s dark comedy about a dysfunctional family, starring Ellen Barkin, Demi Moore, Kate Bosworth, Thomas Haden Church, Ellen Burstyn, and Ezra Miller. This spring,Phase 4 will release Derick Martini’s provocative road trip movie HICK, starring Chloë Grace Moretz, Blake Lively, Eddie Redmayne, Juliette Lewis and Alec Baldwin.

About SMODCAST PICTURES

A division of SModCo, SModcast Pictures covers the visual spectrum of S.I.R. and SModcast.com. Their debut release RED STATE toured the USA, Canada and the UK, winning Best Film at the Sitges Film Festival in Spain. SModcast Pictures is also the co-producer of COMIC BOOK MEN for AMC – the unscripted television series set in a New Jersey comic book store. Their forthcoming release, JAY & SILENT BOB’S SUPER GROOVY CARTOON MOVIE, will blend live action footage and R-rated animation. SModcast Pictures also produces the SMODCO CARTOON SHOW – a monthly series that animates audio from various SModcast.com podcasts.

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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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