By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com

MAGNOLIA PICTURES ACQUIRES DOUGLAS TIROLA’S SUNDANCE/TRIBECA STANDOUT “DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: THE STORY OF THE NATIONAL LAMPOON” 

Posted Monday, July 6th, 2015 - Comments Off on MAGNOLIA PICTURES ACQUIRES DOUGLAS TIROLA’S SUNDANCE/TRIBECA STANDOUT “DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: THE STORY OF THE NATIONAL LAMPOON” 
Be Sociable, Share!
Magnolia Pictures announced today that it is acquiring all U.S. rights excluding television to Douglas Tirola’s Sundance and Tribeca hit DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: THE STORY OF THE NATIONAL LAMPOON, an inside look at the rise and fall of the legendary humor magazine that launched dozens of careers and broke as many taboos. Produced by Tirola and partner Susan Bedusa of 4th Row Films (ACTRESS, MAKING THE BOYS, HEY BARTENDER) the film was financed and produced by HISTORY Films, in association with SKY. Written by Tirola and Mark Monroe, the film is executive produced by Molly Thompson, Dirk Hoogstra, John Battsek and Celia Taylor. Douglas Tirola is represented by WME.

 

From the 1970s thru the 1990s, there was no hipper, more outrageous comedy in print than The National Lampoon, the groundbreaking humor magazine that pushed the limits of taste and acceptability. Parodying everything from politics, religion, entertainment and the whole of American lifestyle, the Lampoon eventually went on to branch into successful radio shows, record albums, live stage revues and movies, including Animal House and National Lampoon’s Vacation. The publication launched the careers of many who would become mainstays in American humor, in TV, film and elsewhere.

The deal for the film was negotiated by John Von Thaden, Vice President of Acquisitions with Cinetic Media on behalf of the filmmakers.

“We’re so proud of the film Doug made – it immerses you in a world that is so rich with creative genius it is stunning but the dramatic story of the magazine’s founders is deeply emotional too,” said Molly Thompson, Senior Vice President, Feature Films, A+E Studios.

Eamonn Bowles, President of Magnolia Pictures, said “With DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD, Doug Tirola establishes himself as one of our most thoughtful and entertaining documentarians, giving us a fresh, inventive look at an outrageous American institution.”

Douglas Tirola said, “It’s an honor to be distributed by Magnolia Pictures which has released some of the great documentaries of the past decade. They have a smart vision for our film with an understanding of how we used the documentary form to tell a broad narrative story. They also bring a sense of humor to the process which is a perfect fit for a movie called, DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: THE STORY OF THE NATIONAL LAMPOON.”

About MAGNOLIA PICTURES

Magnolia Pictures is the theatrical and home entertainment distribution arm of the Wagner/Cuban Companies, a vertically-integrated group of media properties co-owned by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban that also includes the Landmark Theatres chain and AXS TV. Recent releases include Swedish Oscar selection and Golden Globe nominee FORCE MAJEURE, acclaimed documentaries IRIS from Albert Maysles, SUNSHINE SUPERMAN, LIFE ITSELF, THE WRECKING CREW and BALLET 422 and Andrew Bujalski’s RESULTS. Upcoming releases include Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner THE WOLFPACK, Arnaud Desplechin’s Cannes hit MY GOLDEN DAYS, Buckley vs. Vidal doc BEST OF ENEMIES from Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon, Sean Baker’s acclaimed TANGERINE, Alex Gibney’s STEVE JOBS: THE MAN IN THE MACHINE, Roy Andersson’s A PIGEON SAT ON A BRANCH REFLECTING ON EXISTENCE, Australian Sex comedy THE LITTLE DEATH, Michael Almereyda’s Stanley Milgram biopic EXPERIMENTER, and many more.

About 4TH ROW FILMS

4th Row Films is an award-winning New York based production company specializing in documentary film, non-scripted television and brand content. In the past seven years, 4th Row has produced and released 10 documentary features. Their films have all premiered at top festivals, including Sundance, Berlin, Tribeca, SXSW, Edinburgh, Hot Docs and CPH:DOX.

Their first documentary, AN OMAR BROADWAY FILM premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was acquired by HBO Documentary Films. Each of their other films had theatrical runs before going to other platforms. These include Crayton Robey’s MAKING THE BOYS (Berlin International Film Festival, First Run Features), Robert Greene’s award-winning ACTRESS (True False Film Festival, Cinema Guild) and Douglas Tirola’s James Beard nominated HEY BARTENDER (SXSW, Showtime, Netflix).

4th Row Films was also the production company behind the hit MTV series, The X-Effect, which ran on the network for three years. Their brand marketing work includes various types of content for over 150 brands including: American Express, Avon, William Grant and Sons, Coca-Cola, Diageo, Ford, Hershey’s, Pernod-Ricard, Nestle Waters, Mercedes-Benz, Bacardi and the NFL.

ABOUT HISTORY™ FILMS

HISTORY Films seeks to bring cinematic stories by outstanding independent filmmakers to the widest possible audience. Through HISTORY Films, the network produces dramatic non-fiction films about extraordinary people and singular moments in our past, present and future. The HISTORY Films roster currently includes: the Sundance 2015 hit film: Being Evel; the award-winning Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010) (National Critics; LA Critics; NY Critics awards) and Errol Morris’ 2013 film The Unknown Known; Alex Gibney’s Magic Bus; Page One directed by Andrew Rossi; and Countdown to Zero (2010.)

Be Sociable, Share!

Posted in Movie City News, Press Releases | Comments Off on MAGNOLIA PICTURES ACQUIRES DOUGLAS TIROLA’S SUNDANCE/TRIBECA STANDOUT “DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: THE STORY OF THE NATIONAL LAMPOON” 

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