Prepare to be amazed SHOWTIME MARCH 28 10:00PM

North America deal for Drunk Bus

EXCLUSIVE: FilmRise has picked up North American rights to SXSW 2020 selection Drunk Bus, starring Ozark‘s Charlie Tahan, Moonrise Kingdom actress Kara Hayward and newcomer Pineapple Tangaroa. In the indie comedy-drama, a directionless, young campus bus driver and a punk rock, Samoan security guard named Pineapple form an unlikely kinship as they navigate the unpredictable late shift shit show known as the “drunk bus.” The film will get a virtual theatrical release and on demand in late spring 2021.

The fifth and final release of ICONS: Harlem Renaissance in Motion is titled: Mattie Mae. Written by Cassandra Medley @cassandra.medley and performed by Pernell Walker @pernell.walker. https://t.co/2AkpwnPR6c#playbill #internationalwomensday #audioplay #MattieMae #icons pic.twitter.com/JqXRxONYrd

— The Classical Theatre of Harlem (@classicalharlem) March 13, 2021

Night Train Media (NTM) and Nice Drama entered production on new series The Box.

Produced for NENT Group’s Viaplay in the Nordics and Baltics, The Box follows a Kansas City police officer who becomes fixated on an investigation that turns into a supernatural nightmare. Created and written by Adi Hasak, the psychological crime drama stars Anna Friel in the lead role, alongside Alexander Karim and Peter Stormare.

Herbert L. Kloiber, CEO of Night Train Media, and Olivia Pahl serve as executive producers, as well as Fredrik Ljungberg and Adi Hasak. Co-producer NTM will oversee international distribution rights.

Kloiber commented, “We are thrilled that cameras are rolling on The Box. With a stellar international team and an intriguing genre-spanning narrative, it is a thoroughly unique proposition that we are very excited to bring to the screen only one year after the inception of our partnership with NENT Group.”

Vertical takes ‘The Obscure Life Of The Grand Duke Of Corsica’ for UK, US theatrical (exclusive)

BY BEN DALTON5 MARCH 2021

SOURCE: AMP

‘THE OBSCURE LIFE OF THE GRAND DUKE OF CORSICA’

US-based distributor Vertical Entertainment has acquired US and UK rights to Daniel Graham’s The Obscure Life Of The Grand Duke Of Corsica, and is scheduling a theatrical release in both territories for later this year.

The deal was secured through the film’s executive producer Simon Williams, an investment director at finance partner Ingenious.

Sales agent AMP International has separately sold the film to Australia (Rialto Film), Benelux (FilmFreak), India (Pictureworks), Middle East (Front Row), Turkey (SiyahBeyaz) and Greece (Odeon).

Shot on location in Malta in 2019 (long before the Covid-19 pandemic), the film depicts a pandemic which hits the island causing residents to flee. An architect chooses to stay to finish his commission for the eponymous eccentric billionaire.

Timothy Spall plays the architect with Peter Stormare as the Grand Duke and Matt Hookings as St Francis of Assisi.

Hookings of Camelot Films and Chris Hardman of Hardman Pictures produced the film, with financing from Ingenious, LipSync Productions and the Malta Film Commission.

It is the second feature for director Graham after 2019 drama Opus Zero starring Willem Dafoe. Graham previously worked in UK distribution at companies including Artificial Eye and Axiom Films.