Cinedigm Acquires All North American Rights to Two Feature Films Produced by James Franco’s Elysium Bandini Studios
March 03 2017 - 10:00AM
Business Wire
Cinedigm Corp. (NASDAQ: CIDM) announced today that the Company
has closed an agreement to acquire all North American rights to two
feature films produced by James Franco, Jennifer Howell and Vince
Jolivette’s Elysium Bandini Studios.
Cinedigm has wrapped up a distribution partnership with Elysium
Bandini Studios and worldwide sales agency Automatic Entertainment
for two feature films.
- THE HEYDAY OF THE INSENSITIVE BASTARDS:
Produced by Elysium Bandini Studios, in conjunction with UCLA’s
School of Theater, Film and Television, the feature boasts a
stellar A-list ensemble including Franco, Tyler Labine, Kate Mara,
Jim Parrack, Natalie Portman, Rico Rodriguez, Abigail Spencer,
Amber Tamblyn, Thomas Mann and Kristen Wiig. Written and directed
by the students in Franco’s UCLA graduate filmmaking class, the
film was inspired by the short story collection of the same name by
author Robert Boswell. THE HEYDAY OF THE INSENSITIVE BASTARDS is
comprised of an ambitious series of vignettes ranging from comical
and provocative to bittersweet and poignant, as the picture delves
into universal themes of memory, longing and loss.
- DON QUIXOTE: THE INGENIOUS GENTLEMAN OF
LA MANCHA: Produced by Elysium Bandini Studios, in conjunction with
USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. Based on the epic Cervantes novel,
the picture chronicles the wild journey of Don Quixote and his
loyal squire, Sancho Panza, as they go tilting at windmills and
attempt to bring gentlemanly honor and chivalry back to a sometimes
less than courteous world. SNL alum Horatio Sanz stars as Sancho
Panza, along with veteran actor Carmen Argenziano as the titular
Spanish knight, Don Quixote. Additional players include Franco,
Luis Guzman, Vera Cherny and Reinaldo Zavarce. The picture was
written and directed by students in Franco’s USC graduate
filmmaking class.
Elysium Bandini Studios marks a philanthropic joint venture
between Howell’s The Art of Elysium charity and Franco and
Jolivette’s Rabbit Bandini Productions to support the film projects
of students and emerging professionals. All proceeds go entirely to
The Art of Elysium. A Los Angeles based non-profit, The Art of
Elysium’s mission is to bring art and creative programs to
individuals in need in order to inspire relief, happiness and
self-empowerment. The Art of Elysium provides programs for
hospitalized youth, special needs education centers, homeless
shelters, along with elder care homes and hospice care
facilities.
“The creative and impactful mission of The Art of Elysium
resonates strongly with Cinedigm. We are proud to support these
philanthropic efforts and encourage young filmmakers,” said Melody
Fowler, Cinedigm’s Executive Director of Acquisitions.
“Cinedigm has proven itself a successful and collaborative home
for independent film,” said Vince Jolivette, Partner and Co-owner
of Rabbit Bandini Productions. “Given their capabilities and wide
distribution reach, we expect Cinedigm will make a strong partner
for us on the films.”
"The amazing thing about Cinedigm acquiring both HEYDAY and DON
QUIXOTE is not only are they putting these beautiful films out into
the world, they are also supporting the next generation of artists
who are committed to using their creative process to give art to
everyone. The goal of Elysum Bandini Studios is to empower artists
to use their creative voices to create projects that inspire and
raise funds to effectively give art programs to hospitalized youth,
special need schools, elder care facilities and the homeless
community. We believe that art is not a luxury but an absolute
necessity and to give the power to the artists is to give the power
of creation to the world,” said Jennifer Howell, Founder of The Art
of Elysium.
The deal was brokered between Michael Lurie and Jeffrey Giles of
Automatic Entertainment, on behalf of Elysium Bandini Studios, and
Melody Fowler on behalf of Cinedigm.
About Elysium Bandini
Elysium Bandini Studios was founded by James Franco and Vince
Jolivette of Rabbit Bandini Productions, and The Art
of Elysium’s Jennifer Howell. Elysium Bandini Studios is
the first fully philanthropic studio where all profits benefit
communities and people in need through the healing power of art.
The studio cultivates emerging talent, bridges the gap
between education and the industry with the support of
other talent while giving them the opportunity to serve
and give back. The content, art, products ideas and activities
created by Elysium Bandini collaborations will be exhibited,
distributed and licensed, reinvesting revenues into more art
programming. www.ebstudios.org
About Cinedigm
Cinedigm is a leading independent content distributor in the
United States, with direct relationships with thousands of physical
retail storefronts and digital platforms, including Wal-Mart,
Target, iTunes, Netflix, and Amazon, as well as the national Video
on Demand platform on cable television.
Additionally, given Cinedigm’s infrastructure, technology,
content and distribution expertise, the Company has rapidly become
a leader in the quickly evolving over-the-top digital network
business. Cinedigm’s first channel, DOCURAMA, launched in May 2014,
and is currently available on iOS, Roku, Xbox and Samsung, with
additional platforms currently being rolled out. Cinedigm launched
CONtv, a Comic Con branded channel, on March 3, 2015. The Company’s
third OTT channel, DOVE CHANNEL, launched on September 15, 2015 and
is a digital streaming subscription service targeted to families
and kids seeking high quality and family friendly content approved
by Dove Foundation.
Cinedigm™ and Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp™ are trademarks of
Cinedigm Corp. www.cinedigm.com. [CIDM-F]
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CinedigmJill Newhouse Calcaterra,
310-466-5135jcalcaterra@cinedigm.com
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