By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com

Poverty Row Entertainment announces “THE FIRST” as title of new Mary Pickford film starring Lily Rabe

Posted Thursday, August 23rd, 2012 - Comments Off on Poverty Row Entertainment announces “THE FIRST” as title of new Mary Pickford film starring Lily Rabe
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Producers Julie Pacino and Jennifer DeLia will host a party on opening night at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival in honor of the new film

New York, August 23, 2012 – The first film to feature the life story of Hollywood legend Mary Pickford has announced a title for the film that is very apt: “THE FIRST.”  Poverty Row Entertainment, a production company headed by Julie Pacino and Jennifer DeLia, along with producer Said Zahraoui, recently announced the casting of their lead actress, Lily Rabe.  The film is based on Eileen Whitfield’s biography “Pickford: The Woman Who Made Hollywood.”  Jennifer DeLia will direct the film and Josh Fagin is currently writing the script; production will begin in 2013.

DeLia has this to say about the title of the film: “There’s something very powerful and definitive about the words ‘the first.’  Mary Pickford was one of the first independent producers and was the most powerful woman in the male-dominated Hollywood of her day. Universally loved, a fashion icon, and the face of a multitude of products, she became the world’s first movie mega-star and most beloved icon, kicking off the still-thriving practice of celebrity worship.  As a silent screen legend and as the woman who made Hollywood, Pickford continues to breathe life into the core of Los Angeles today.  The Academy, Occidental Studios, The Lot, and the original United Artists, just to name a few, have Mary Pickford’s touch on them.  She made the town, she made Hollywood, and she made the industry.  She was the first.”

About the new title, Toronto-based author Whitfield, said: “As young, independent artists and producers, Julie Pacino and Jennifer DeLia have a fresh and natural grasp of Pickford’s pioneering place in film. And using the title THE FIRST is brilliant.  A year ago, TIFF hung an exhibit in Pickford’s honor at the Bell Lightbox.  Pickford was born just a stone’s throw from that location, making TIFF a great fit for supporting her legacy.”

In anticipation of this new film, a party on opening night at the TIFF Bell Lightbox will celebrate the memory of Pickford, who was Canadian.  On Thursday, September 6, Pacino and DeLia will co-host the event with Paramax Films and Monde Ouest.

THE FIRST will delve into Pickford’s life from a woman’s point of view and will illuminate the artistry, spirituality, and integrity that moved Mary Pickford through the ground-breaking and controversial world of her time.  From 1892 through to her passing in 1979, Pickford was the powerhouse who, along with Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and D. W. Griffith, created their own distribution company, United Artists, which was designed to serve the filmmakers rather than the studio heads.  Known as ‘America’s Sweetheart,’ ‘Little Mary,’ and ‘The Girl with the Curls,’ the Canadian-born Pickford was one of silent film’s most important performers and had international fame that reached heights never seen before, as for the first time, an idol emerged from moving images or ‘cinema.’  She was the biggest and most beloved movie star of the time; she was the face of the American Military; she was one of the 36 co-founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; and she was an activist.  She fulfilled missions that no one else in her time could have and no one since her could even imagine.

Recently, the AMPAS and the Mary Pickford Foundation have partnered on a multi-year initiative to promote the legacy of Mary Pickford and the silent film era. THE FIRST will extensively explore their collections as part of pre-production on the film.  Pacino has this to say: “We are thrilled about the new partnership between the Academy and The Mary Pickford Foundation as it is incredibly important for the public to have access to such historical images in order to become educated about the history and impact.  We are also excited about being in Toronto during TIFF this year as we develop our project and celebrate Pickford’s legacy in her hometown.  In fact, we first learned about some of Pickford’s story through an exhibit at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.”

ABOUT POVERTY ROW ENTERTAINMENT

Poverty Row Entertainment has been based in New York since 2009, opening with the short film “Abracadabra” starring Beth Grant and Ty Simpkins.  DeLia and Pacino recently screened their debut feature film, “Billy Bates,” at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. The film follows a fictional artist in the vein of Basquiat or Warhol, who faces his dark childhood memories and as a result, breaks through inherent psychological barriers, thus, enabling him to create his newest body of work. The film received high praise from press and industry members who attended the screening, with some calling it “a new breed of filmmaking” and “a breath of fresh air.”  For more information, please visit http://www.povertyrowentertainment.com.

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