By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com

IFC FILMS TAKES NORTH AND LATIN AMERICAN RIGHTS TO NOAH BAUMBACH’S FRANCES HA

Posted Thursday, September 20th, 2012 - 2 Comments »
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New York, NY (September 20, 2012) – IFC Films announced today from the 2012 New York Film Festival that the company is acquiring all North and Latin American rights to director Noah Baumbach’s FRANCES HA. Baumbach wrote the screenplay with Greta Gerwig who stars in the film. Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver and Michael Zegen co-star. Baumbach, Lila Yacoub, Scott Rudin, and Rodrigo Teixeira produced the picture, with Fernando Loureiro and Lourenço Sant’ Anna executive producing for RT Features. FRANCES HA made its world premiere at the 2012 Telluride Film Festival and also played at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month.

Frances (Gerwig) lives in New York, but she doesn’t really have an apartment. Frances is an apprentice for a dance company, but she’s not really a dancer. Frances has a best friend named Sophie, but they aren’t really speaking anymore. Frances throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles. Frances wants so much more than she has but lives her life with unaccountable joy and lightness. FRANCES HA is a moderncomic fable that explores New York, friendship, class, ambition, failure, and redemption.

The critical response for the film at the Telluride and Toronto festivals was overwhelmingly positive:

“A fleet-footed, black-and-white New York story that turns self-consciousness into an exalted form of authenticity.” – A.O. Scott, NY Times

“A big-hearted depiction of a colorful character full of joyous wit and indomitable spirit.” – John Horn, Los Angeles Times

“Terrific. An exhilarating black-and-white New York serio-comedy from Noah Baumbach with a stellar star turn by co-writer Greta Gerwig. One of Baumbach’s most accessible and joyous works, it marks an exciting new period in the filmmaker’s oeuvre and one that will hopefully yield many more collaborations with the endearing and charming Greta Gerwig.  This is unquestionably her defining performance to date.” – Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter 

“Greta Gerwig at her incandescent best.”  – Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

“An affectionate, stylishly black-and-white portrait of a still-unfledged Gotham gal. With Baumbach’s help, Gerwig seems to have found the right vessel for her voice, capturing the spirit of a generation in a film whose appeal should resonate well beyond the demographic it depicts.”  – Peter Debruge, Variety

Jonathan Sehring, President of Sundance Selects/IFC Films, said: ”Our entire team fell in love with FRANCES HA in Toronto.  It’s sharp and funny and it also has an exhilarating energy and love for its characters and for New York City.  Greta Gerwig’s performance is a revelation.  We really look forward to working with Noah, Greta and the film’s producers to make this a great success.”

The deal for FRANCES HA was negotiated by Arianna Bocco, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions & Productions for Sundance Selects/IFC Films with UTA on behalf of the filmmakers and RT.

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

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ABOUT IFC FILMS 

Established in 2000 and based in New York City, IFC Films is a leading U.S. distributor of quality talent-driven independent film.  Its unique distribution modelmakes independent 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 over the years have included My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Touching the Void, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Gomorrah, Che, Summer Hours, Antichrist, In the Loop, Antichrist, Wordplay, Cairo Time, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, Tiny Furniture and Carlos.  Over the years, IFC Films has worked with established and breakout auteurs, including Steven Soderbergh, Gus Van Sant, Spike Lee, Richard Linklater, Miranda July, Lars Von Trier, Gaspar Noe, Todd Solondz, Cristian Mungiu, Susanne Bier, Olivier Assayas, Jim McKay, Larry Fessenden, Gregg Araki, Jacques Rivette, Claude Chabrol, as well as more recent breakouts such as Andrea Arnold, MiaHansen Love, Corneliu Porombiou, Joe Swanberg, Barry Jenkins, Lena Dunham, Aaron Katz, Daryl Wein and Abdellatif Kechiche. Recent releases include PEACE, LOVE, AND MISUNDERSTANDING starring Jane Fonda and Catherine Keener; and YOUR SISTER’S SISTER starring Emily Blunt and Mark Duplass.  Upcoming releases include Walter Salles’ Cannes competition film ON THE ROAD starring Kristen Stewart, Sam Riley andGarrett Hedlund (which will be released jointly with Sundance Selects) and Josh Radnor’s LIBERAL ARTS starring Elizabeth Olsen and Radnor.  IFC Films is a sister label to Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight, and is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc.

ABOUT RT FEATURES

The Brazilian film production company RT Features began in 2005 with very clear objectives: to develop original film projects in Brazil andinternationally. Starting with encouraging the creation of new stories and acquiring the rights to literary works, graphic novels and nonfiction books, RT Features has established itself as the leading Brazilian production company, extending its involvement to projects in the U.S. and Latin America. Within this model, the company naturally ended up promoting the creation and execution of literary projects by developing collections and individual books. Its main partner in the publishing industryis Companhia das Letras. RT Features is currently producing films and series in partnership with The Kennedy/ Marshall Company, Red Hour Films, Plan B, Grupo Conspiração and the Globo Television Network, and is also developing projects in collaboration with Julian Fellowes, Karim Aïnouz, and David Seidler, among others and is also developing BLOOD ON THE TRACKS, inspired by the Bob Dylan album.

ABOUT NOAH BAUMBACH

Noah Baumbach’s films as a writer and director include KICKING AND SCREAMING, THE SQUID AND THE WHALE, MARGOT AT THE WEDDING, and GREENBERG.

Mr. Baumbach received an Academy Award nomination for his original screenplay THE SQUID AND THE WHALE. The picture premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, where he was honored with both the Directing Award (in the Dramatic features category) and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. Thescript also earned him Best Original Screenplay awards from the New York Film Critics Circle, the National Society of Film Critics, the National Board ofReview, the Toronto Film Critics Association, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. The film was on over 150 Top Ten lists, including AFI’s 10 Best of the Year. THE SQUID AND THE WHALE received three Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Picture (Musical/Comedy); and six Independent Spirit Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and for actors Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, and Jesse Eisenberg.

MARGOT AT THE WEDDING premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in 2007 and played at the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival. The picture was released by Paramount Vantage and received Gotham Award nominations for Best Film and Best Ensemble Cast. Jennifer Jason Leigh earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her performance opposite Nicole Kidman and Jack Black.

In 2010, GREENBERG premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film was released by Focus Features and received a Gotham Award nomination for Best Breakthrough Actress for Greta Gerwig and four Independent Spirit Award nominations including Best Feature, Best Male Lead for Ben Stiller, and Best Female Lead for Greta Gerwig.

With director Wes Anderson, Mr. Baumbach co-wrote THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU and FANTASTIC MR. FOX (the latter adapted from the novel by Roald Dahl).

He directed the shorts CLEARING THE AIR and NEW YORK UNDERGROUND which he co-wrote with Bill Hader and Fred Armisen for Saturday Night Live.

He is also a contributor of humor pieces to the “Shouts and Murmurs” section of The New Yorker.

ABOUT GRETA GERWIG

GretaGerwig has rapidly emerged as one of Hollywood’s most engaging actresses.

Most recently, Gerwig starred in Woody Allen’s TO ROME WITH LOVE opposite Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg and Ellen Page. The all-star cast also included Penélope Cruz, Roberto Benigni, Judy Davis and Allen. Gerwig also recently starred as the lead in Whit Stillman’s comedy DAMSELS IN DISTRESS and as the title character of “Lola” in Fox Searchlight’s LOLA VERSUS.

 

Gerwig first received critical acclaim for her breakout role as “Florence” in GREENBERG, which marked her first collaboration with writer/director, Noah Baumbach. In the film, she starred opposite Ben Stiller and her performance earned her several nominations including a Gotham Award nomination for Breakthrough Performance and an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead.  Gerwig then went on to star alongside Russell Brand and Helen Mirren in the comedy ARTHUR, which she followed with a supporting role in the romantic comedy NO STRINGS ATTACHED with Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher.

A darling of the independent film scene, Gerwig’s prior credits include Ti West’s art-house horror film HOUSE OF THE DEVIL and the Duplass brothers’ genre-bender BAGHEAD. She has twice collaborated with director and actor Joe Swanberg, first on HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS as a writer and actress, and then for NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS, which she also co-wrote and co-directed.

Gerwig graduated magna cum laude from Barnard College, and currently resides in New York City.

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Posted in Movie City News, Press Releases | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “IFC FILMS TAKES NORTH AND LATIN AMERICAN RIGHTS TO NOAH BAUMBACH’S FRANCES HA”

  1. CL says:
    September 20, 2012 at 6:36 pm

    Will they release it in 2012? If so, is Gerwig an Oscar candidate?

  2. Ray Pride says:
    September 20, 2012 at 6:58 pm

    Smells like Sundance.

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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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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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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