By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com

Steve James’ HEAD GAMES Set for September 21 Theatrical Release Through Variance Films

Posted Tuesday, July 31st, 2012 - Comments Off on Steve James’ HEAD GAMES Set for September 21 Theatrical Release Through Variance Films
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Award-winning filmmaker tackles hot-button issue of concussions in sport

New York, July 31, 2012 – Variance Films announced today that it has acquired theatrical rights to HEAD GAMES, the new documentary feature from acclaimed director Steve James (“Hoop Dreams,” The Interrupters”) that takes a nuanced, intelligent look at the concussion crisis in American sports.  The film will begin its theatrical run on September 21 in select cities and expand throughout top markets in September and October, with select screenings to feature guest speakers and panel discussions.

Additionally, audiences elsewhere will have the opportunity to bring the film to their local theaters using Tugg, a new collective-action web platform that enables individuals to choose the films that play in their local theaters.

HEAD GAMES contrasts eye-opening evidence and cutting-edge science on head trauma from the nation’s leading medical experts with first-hand accounts from athletes, coaches, and parents who share their personal struggles in dealing with the devastating aftermath of these injuries, while treading the difficult balance between sports excellence and basic self-preservation. Fueled by a ‘leave everything on the field’ culture, the devastating and long-term effects of this silent epidemic are only recently becoming clear.

Inspired by events from the book Head Games written by former Ivy League football star and WWE wrestler Christopher Nowinski, and featuring interviews with Nowinski, Bob Costas (NBC Sports), Keith Primeau (NHL All-Star), Cindy Parlow Cone (Olympic Gold Medalist, Women’s Soccer), and many more, HEAD GAMES exposes viewers to one of the leading public health issues of our time, raising the question: “How much of you are you willing to lose for a game?”

“I am thrilled that Variance has picked up Head Games for theatrical release,” said director Steve James.  “This is a film that I hope reaches a broad audience and, in particular, amateur athletes and their families – who really need to become better informed on this huge public health issue.”

“At Variance, we truly believe that documentary films can, and often do, change the world,” said Dylan Marchetti, founder of Variance Films. “Our hope is that this film helps pull back the curtain on an issue that needs to be higher up on the list for parents, coaches, and athletes alike.  In the expert hands of Steve James, HEAD GAMES delivers a thoughtful look at an issue I was shocked to discover how little I truly knew about.”

OFFICIAL WEBSITES: http://www.headgamesthefilm.com / http://www.facebook.com/headgamesfilm
TO TUGG THE FILM: http://www.tugg.com/titles/head-games

ABOUT VARIANCE FILMS

Founded in 2008 in Brooklyn, Variance Films is a New York City-based theatrical distributor whose sole mission is to bring the best in independent cinema to theaters across the continent, while allowing filmmakers to retain all rights to their work.  Founded in 2008 by Dylan Marchetti, Variance distributes films using innovative release strategies that focus on collaborative, filmmaker-centric grassroots marketing to drive audiences to theaters.  Recent Variance Films releases include John Sayles’ Philippine-American War epic AMIGO, José Padilha’s ELITE SQUAD: THE ENEMY WITHIN (Brazil’s official submission for the 2011 Academy Awards), and the highest-grossing film of all time in China, Jiang Wen’s hilariously dark action-comedy LET THE BULLETS FLY. Next up for Variance is the latest Spike Lee joint, RED HOOK SUMMER, in theaters August 10. For more information, please visit www.variancefilms.com.

ABOUT TUGG, INC.

Tugg, Inc. (“Tugg”) is a collective-action web platform that enables individuals to choose the films that play in their local theaters.  Through Tugg, individuals are empowered to select a film, screening time, and nearby theater, and then spread the word to their immediate and online community. Once a necessary amount of people commit to attending, the event will be confirmed, and Tugg will reserve the theater, manage ticketing and ensure delivery of the film, allowing the audience to sit back and enjoy the show.  Tugg is currently working with exhibitors Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, AMC Theatres, Bow Tie Cinemas, Cinemark Theatres, Goodrich Quality Cinemas, Rave Cinemas and Regal Cinemas, as well as additional regional and independently-owned theaters across the country. These exhibitors will provide theatrical venues for individually curated events showcasing Tugg’s growing library of hundreds of studio and independent films.

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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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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