By MCN Editor editor@moviecitynews.com

RADIANT FILMS INTERNATIONAL SELLS ALL RIGHTS TO TOM SHADYAC’S DOCUMENTARY ‘I AM’ TO UNIVERSAL PICTURES INTERNATIONAL ENTERTAINMENT

Posted Thursday, May 3rd, 2012 - Comments Off on RADIANT FILMS INTERNATIONAL SELLS ALL RIGHTS TO TOM SHADYAC’S DOCUMENTARY ‘I AM’ TO UNIVERSAL PICTURES INTERNATIONAL ENTERTAINMENT
Be Sociable, Share!

For Immediate Release

(Los Angeles – May 3, 2012) Mimi Steinbauer, President / CEO of Radiant Films International announced today that Tom Shadyac’s life affirming documentary feature film ‘I AM’ has been acquired for all worldwide distribution rights (excluding US and Canada) by Universal Pictures International Entertainment.

‘I AM’ is a film that resonates beautifully with audiences looking for a smart and entertaining look at life themes that affect all of us.  We are delighted that Universal Pictures International Entertainment has recognized the potential of this film,” said Steinbauer.

“Universal Pictures International Entertainment is pleased to be working with Radiant Films to release ‘I AM’ internationally. This inspirational feature is a welcome addition to our documentary collection,” said Eddie Cunningham, President of Universal International Entertainment.

“I AM” is the result of a life-changing biking accident in 2007 suffered by acclaimed director Shadyac which compelled him to re-evaluate his Hollywood lifestyle and seek the answers to the following questions: what’s wrong with our world and what can we do to make it better?

A critical and box office hit in the US released through Paladin, Shadyac interviews several legendary philosophical thinkers and academics from our time including David Suzuki, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn and Archbishop Desmond Tutu to reach answers to these vital questions. The result is a powerful, uplifting, enlightening documentary which challenges our preconceptions about human behavior while celebrating the indomitable human spirit.

Shadyac is one of Hollywood’s most well-known comedic directors having directed such classics as ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE, THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, LIAR LIAR, BRUCE ALMIGHTY and others. His films have grossed nearly 2 billion dollars at the box office.

About Radiant Films International

Founded by international sales veteran, Mimi Steinbauer, who is President and CEO, Radiant Films International is a newly launched full service international sales company funded through private equity sources which plans to acquire and distribute between 6-8 theatrical titles per year.  Other titles on Radiant’s slate include Andrew Levitas’ drama, LULLABY.

About Universal Pictures International Entertainment

UPIE is part of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. Comcast Corporation owns a controlling 51% interest in NBCUniversal, with GE holding a 49% stake.

*********************

Be Sociable, Share!

Posted in Movie City News, Press Releases | Comments Off on RADIANT FILMS INTERNATIONAL SELLS ALL RIGHTS TO TOM SHADYAC’S DOCUMENTARY ‘I AM’ TO UNIVERSAL PICTURES INTERNATIONAL ENTERTAINMENT

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