By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com

NEON AND 30WEST LAND DOMESTIC RIGHTS TO CRAIG GILLESPIE’S STANDOUT DARK COMEDY “I, TONYA”

Posted Monday, September 11th, 2017 - Comments Off on NEON AND 30WEST LAND DOMESTIC RIGHTS TO CRAIG GILLESPIE’S STANDOUT DARK COMEDY “I, TONYA”
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Toronto, Canada (September 11, 2017) – In one of the most high-profile sales of Toronto International Film Festival, NEON and 30WEST are excited to announce they have landed domestic rights to Craig Gillespie’s much talked about dark comedy, I, TONYA which premiered here on Friday to both critical and audience acclaim.

I, TONYA is an at times absurd, tragic and hilarious look at the woman at the center of the biggest scandal in sports history, Tonya Harding, who dominated the ice with unrivaled athleticism and made headlines for something else entirely.

The film stars Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding, with Allison Janney playing her mother in stand out roles that quickly began garnering awards buzz after Friday’s festival World Premiere.  Sebastian Stan rounds out the cast as Jeff Gillooly, Harding’s scheming ex-husband. Julianne Nicholson, Paul Walter Hauser and Bobby Cannavale co-star.

The film is directed by Craig Gillespie with a screenplay by Steven Rogers.  Bryan Unkeless, Steven Rogers, Margot Robbie and Tom Ackerley produced the film. Len Blavatnik and Aviv Giladi executive produced the film for AI Films, who financed the project. Rosanne Korenberg and Zanne Devine executive produced.

The deal was negotiated by NEON and 30WEST and CAA and UTA on behalf of the filmmakers. Bill Block, CEO of Miramax, Adrian Lopez, SVP Business and Legal Affairs at Miramax and Vince Holden of AI Films negotiated the deal on behalf of their respective companies.

30WEST has had an active festival, making a seven figure deal with YouTube Red to acquire Morgan Spurlock’s SUPER SIZE ME 2: HOLY CHICKEN!. The company co-represented the domestic rights alongside Cinetic.

ABOUT NEON

NEON’S debut film was Nacho Vigalondo’s COLOSSAL, starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis. NEON was an active buyer at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, acquiring Matt Spicer’s INGRID GOES WEST, winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award and Eliza Hittman’s BEACH RATS, winner of the Directing Award, U.S Dramatic. NEON recently released Academy Award winning director, Laura Poitras’s RISK, Ana Lily Amirpour’s THE BAD BATCH and Errol Morris’, THE B-SIDE.  They’ve announced the acquisition of the French language Belgian thriller, RACER AND THE JAILBIRD, SXSW audience sensation, Aaron Katz’s GEMINI, Harmony Korine’s THE BEACH BUM and the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival opening night film by Janus Metz, BORG vs MCENROE.  NEON recently released Matt Spicer’s INGRID GOES WEST, starring Aubrey Plaza and Elizabeth Olsen, to the highest per screen average of the weekend followed up by Eliza Hittman’s BEACH RATS on August 25th.

ABOUT 30WEST

Founded by Dan Friedkin and Micah Green, with partner Dan Steinman, 30WEST provides capital and strategic guidance to distinguished creative projects and forward-thinking companies operating throughout popular culture. Its media practice works with filmmakers to guide every stage of creative packaging, providing direct capital investment for production, sales, distribution and licensing in order to maximize production quality and audience reach.  The company maintains a close network of partners across every area of agency, management, capital and distribution to ensure that worthwhile projects and businesses receive the attention, momentum and resources they need to thrive.

Most recently, 30WEST arranged financing for Ridley Scott’s true crime thriller chronicling the harrowing 1973 kidnapping of J. Paul Getty III, ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD, starring Michelle Williams, Kevin Spacey and Mark Wahlberg, which is scheduled for theatrical release Christmas 2017.

ABOUT AI FILM

Established in 2013, AI Film is an independent film finance and executive production company owned by Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries, investing in features from the US and UK with international market potential. Headquartered in London and headed by CEO Aviv Giladi, the company works alongside the world’s most exciting elite filmmakers and production partners to deliver bold, quality commercial films.

AI Film’s current slate of titles includes the upcoming biopic I, Tonya starring Margot Robbie, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, as well as Bart Layton’s eagerly anticipated American Animals. Past projects include Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge and Martin Scorsese’s historical drama, Silence and Lee Daniels’ BAFTA nominated The Butler; Ian McKellen starrer Mr Holmes. For further information, visit: www.ai-film.com

“It’s been a whirlwind couple of days and we’re so thrilled by the overwhelming response I, Tonya received since premiering in Toronto,” said LuckyChap Entertainment and Clubhouse Pictures. “This film means the world to us and we’re really happy to find a distribution partner in NEON, who loves it as much as we do. From the first meeting we had with them, their passion spoke volumes. They completely captured the essence and tone of our film and embraced the spirit of it through their innovative marketing approach.”

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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?

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

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~ David Simon