News

Screen Media Grabs Rights to Lake City

New York, NY (November 5, 2008) — Robert Baruc, President of Screen Media Films, announced today that the company has acquired worldwide distribution rights to Lake City, written and directed by Hunter Hill and Perry Moore, marking their feature directorial debuts. The film was produced by Allison Sarofim, Donna Bascom and Mike Ryan, and executive produced by Mark Johnson, Weiman Seid and Sally Pope, through NY-based Sixty-Six Productions. The film stars Oscar-winner Sissy Spacek, Troy Garity (Soldier’s Girl), Rebecca Romijn (X-MEN), Dave Matthews (You Don’t Mess With The Zohan), Keith Carradine (Dexter), Drea De Matteo (The Sopranos), Allison Sarofim (The Nanny Diaries) and newcomer Colin Ford. Screen Media Films plans to release the film theatrically on November 7th 2008 in New York, Los Angeles and five additional markets.

Lake City, which had its world premiere at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, is an intense Southern drama about a mother (Spacek) and son (Garity) who reunite under desperate circumstances; years after a family tragedy drove them apart. Once together, they are forced to sort out their past and escape a dangerous situation in the present.

“This film is a reminder of why Sissy Spacek is regarded as one of the great American actresses of our time as this is another powerhouse performance,” says Baruc. “We are very proud to be behind this film, and feel Hunter and Perry, who both grew up in the South, have crafted a beautiful and authentic story about how we cope with the barrage of things that life throws our way.”

“When creating this movie, we always envisioned Sissy as the lead. It is a natural fit as you see on the screen. The depth and subtlety of her performance brings an invaluable realism to the role as Maggie and ultimately the film as a whole,” says Sarofim. “In addition, we were very fortunate to have outstanding performances by the entire cast which weave together to form a truly compelling family drama.”

Robert Baruc and David Fannon, Executive Vice President of Screen Media Ventures negotiated on behalf of Screen Media Films. Sixty-Six Productions was represented in the deal by Andrew Herwitz at The Film Sales Company.

About Screen Media Films
Screen Media Films acquires worldwide, US and Canadian rights to high quality, independent feature films. These films are distributed domestically on home video through an exclusive distribution arrangement with Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Since 2001, the company has released more than 120 titles including, Noel, starring Penelope Cruz and Susan Sarandon; One Last Dance, starring Patrick Swayze; and Kevin Bacon's directorial debut, Loverboy, starring Kyra Sedgwick and Matt Dillon.

Screen Media Establishes P&A Fund

New York, NY (July 29, 2008) — Screen Media Ventures today announced that it has established a $10 million P&A fund to assist smaller independent films to reach theatrical audiences. The announcement was made by Joseph E. Kovacs, President of Screen Media Ventures, where he stated that many independent films with budgets of $5-$10 million should have a place in the theatrical landscape but the funding for P&A has been unavailable for films of this size. The fund will be managed by Screen Media’s Executive Vice President, David Fannon and Lawrence Weissman of Weissman & Co. “Quite a few of the films we see during the year deserve a theatrical opportunity, but given the funding required, they generally go direct to video instead. We are looking to make loans in the $500,000-$1 million range but can go higher or lower depending on the structure of the deal” said Fannon. “With Screen Media’s expertise with independent films, the fund can make decisions with a much more streamlined process than can be found elsewhere in the industry” added Weissman.

Screen Media’s P&A Fund will be a separate operating unit from Screen Media Films which releases 5-7 titles theatrically per year, but the two units can also work closely together on certain projects. “While some titles may not be appropriate for us to handle or release to home video through our output arrangement with Universal Home Entertainment, other titles can utilize the full distribution capability of Screen Media Ventures” said Robert Baruc, President of Screen Media Films.

About Screen Media Films
Screen Media is a worldwide distributor of high quality, independent feature films. With a library of more than 1,000 films, Screen Media is one of the largest distributors of independent films to the international and domestic marketplaces.

Upcoming worldwide releases include Lake City starring Sissy Spacek, Rebecca Romjin, and David Matthews, and Mr. Gibb starring Hayden Panettiere and Tim Daly.