Every week, I get several press releases, screening invitations and other notifications from a handful of studio contacts. While I won’t be sharing any information regarding my screening invites, some of the press releases might be of interest to my readers, so I thought I’d start sharing them in toto with all of you. These could include new image galleries for various films or important updates to upcoming releases from various smaller studios and art house production companies.

• Image Gallery: Warner Bros. Summer Preview
• Press Release: Freestyle Digital Media Announces Release of ‘Hard Breakers’ and ‘Swinging with the Finkels’
• Press Release: RUMR Announces Two-Decade Retrospective

Image Gallery: Warner Bros. Summer Preview

Warner Bros. Summer Preview Gallery

Press Release: Freestyle Digital Media Announces Release of ‘Hard Breakers’ and ‘Swinging with the Finkels’

FREESTYLE DIGITAL MEDIA ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF ‘HARD BREAKERS’ AND ‘SWINGING WITH THE FINKELS’ ON DVD ON JULY 3, 2012

First titles to be released under a newly inked distribution agreement with Gaiam

Los Angeles, CA(April 9th, 2012)– Freestyle Digital Media, LLC (FDM) announced the release of two new feature comedies “Hard Breakers” starring Sophie Monk and Cameron Richardson, and “Swinging with the Finkels” with Mandy Moore and Martin Freeman. These are the first titles to be released in a new partnership with Gaiam, Inc. who is handling DVD sell through for all Freestyle Digital Media film releases. Both films will have a street date of July 3, 2012.

The deal was brokered by Susan Jackson, CEO of Freestyle Digital Media, and Sam Toles, Gaiam’s Vice President of Content and Acquisitions. Freestyle Digital Media will continue to handle online film rentals and VOD directly.

“We have watched Gaiam’s growth and are very excited to be working with the largest independent DVD distributor in America,” said Jackson. “Gaiam’s excellent track record with quality product made them a great fit for Freestyle Digital Media.”

Freestyle Digital Media’s recent slate of releases includes DEADHEADS, the acclaimed horror-comedy from directors Brett and Drew Pierce, SWINGING WITH THE FINKELS starring Mandy Moore and directed by Jonathan Newman, and TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN directed by Stuart Beattie, which also marked the first feature film debut on Facebook back in February.

About Freestyle Digital Media:
Freestyle Digital Media, LLC was launched in November 2011 by its CEO Susan Jackson who is Co-President and founder of top independent theatrical distributor Freestyle Releasing, LLC and North American sales company Turtles Crossing, LLC. Freestyle Digital Media supplies quality commercial film and TV content directly to all US VOD/SVOD rental DVD/Kiosks and theaters using the latest cloud-based technologies to automate digital workflow. Freestyle’s goal is to provide fresh, well-marketed product and stay on the cutting edge of the ever-compressing windows to ensure that their partners benefit from a platform that delivers an anytime-anywhere capability in the medium of their choice and a positive digital viewing experience on any device in any location. Jackson has partnered in FDM with Steve Harnsberger and Mark Borde. Harnsberger is FDM’s Executive Vice President of Business Development and Borde is the company’s EVP of Theatrical Distribution.

About GAIAM
Gaiam, Inc. (Nasdaq: GAIA) is a leading producer and marketer of lifestyle media and fitness accessories. With a wide distribution network that consists of 62,000 retail doors, 14,400 store within stores, 5,600 media category management locations, a digital distribution platform and more than 10 million direct customers, Gaiam is dedicated to providing solutions for healthy and eco-conscious living. The company dominates the health and wellness category and releases non-theatrical programming focused on family entertainment and conscious media. In addition, Gaiam has an exclusive licensing agreement with Discovery Communications and other licensing partners.

Press Release: RUMR Announces Two-Decade Retrospective

Brooklyn Film Production Company RUMR Announces Two-Decade Retrospective

“Rumur Films 1994-2012”

Films to play at Brooklyn Heights Cinema, Artisphere in Arlington, VA and the Revelation Film Festival in Australia

——————————————————————————–

New York, NY, April 13, 2012 – Brooklyn-based production studio RUMUR has been making inovative films for almost two decades. This spring the first five features from RUMUR, created between 1994 and 2012, will be shown as a retrospective in New York, Arlington, V.A., and Perth, Australia.
Adam Sekuler, Program Director of the Northwest Film Forum in Seattle encapsulates Rumur’s body of work, saying, “In the age of the cinematic in-between, the partners at RUMUR have been actively exploring territories of co-mingled documentary and fiction for nearly two decades. With their narrative films like Half-Cocked and Radiation, they worked closely with the underground music community to build fictional stories from their actual lives. For their social documentaries of the aughts such as Horns and Halos through their more recent films like Battle For Brooklyn, RUMUR Rumur has tagged alongside the political underdogs constructing a narrative arc to their real life drama. Within all of this, unlike Michael Moore, rumur actually let their audiences do the thinking rather than taking polemical approaches to their filmmaking. This quality, particularly as more and more media offer overly perfected messaging, reminds us that we too, the audiences, are as vulnerable as those portrayed on the screen. That is why their films remain an urgent example of how documentaries should be made.”

RUMUR was founded by Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley, who met in 1992 and began collaborating on film projects while ensconced in the underground music scene of the early 90s.

The first two films, Half-Cocked and Radiation, were scripted narratives that danced on the line between reality and fiction. Half-Cocked observes a a bunch of kids steal a van full of musical gear and go on the road through the South. Radiation follows a Spanish tour promoter who books gigs for American bands. The actors in both films played versions of themselves and were part of world they were portraying. Much of the dialogue was improvised and the shooting was done run and gun on 16mm. Galinsky states, “I had a background in documentary photography and Suki studied Billy Wilder. We decided to combine elements of both.”

In 2002, RUMUR produced it’s first documentary, Horns and Halos, which follows a janitor who publishes a controversial biography of George W. Bush from his basement during the heated 2000 presidential campaign. Hawley and Galinsky were joined on this project by David Beilinson, who would become their producing partner. The narrative follows the book’s ascent and trajectory in the court of public opinion.

“The news media plays an important part in our work,” states Hawley. “How we get our information is at the core of everything we do.” Galinsky follows, “We tend to focus on stories about outsiders fighting against a system, and work to tell the story from their point of view, which usually clashes with the journalistic paradigm.”

Their next documentary, Code 33, shot over the summer 2004, is a police procedural that chronicles the hunt for the most prolific serial rapist in South Florida History. The RUMUR team spent 24 hours per day over the course of four months shooting with detectives as they combed the streets of Miami. The commitment and the insight to understand the potential of where things might end up is what sets their films apart.

Beilinson states, “The patience and perseverance to intimately capture events playing out over long periods has always rewarded us.”

Battle for Brooklyn, RUMUR’s most recent film, follows a group of Brooklyn neighbors over seven years as they struggle to keep their community from being bulldozed for a basketball arena and massive development project.

When viewed together, these five films offer a wholly unique perspective on the everyman as anti-hero in our culture.

The series will kick off at Brooklyn Heights Cinema with a weekly presentation of a RUMUR film every Thursday in May.

For more information visit Rumur.com

May 3-31: Brooklyn Heights Cinema
70 Henry Street Brooklyn, NY 11201, (718) 596-7070
For showtimes, visit: Brooklynheightscinema.com

May 3: Half-Cocked
May 10: Radiation
May 17: Horns and Halos
May 24: Code 33
May 31: Battle for Brooklyn

May 22-May 27: Artisphere
1101 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington VA 22209 (703) 875-1100
For showtimes, visit: Artisphere.com

Revelation Film Festival: Perth, Australia
Dates TBD. For updates, visit: Rumur.com

CRITICAL PRAISE FOR RUMUR

Half-Cocked, 1994. Co-Directed and Produced by Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley.

“This raw and moody drama from 1994 by the husband-and-wife team of Suki Hawley and Michael Galinsky (they co-wrote, she directed and edited, he photographed, in appealingly grainy black-and-white) captures a moment of grungy charm when independent art-rock scenes were new and resolutely local. A quintet living in a ramshackle house in Louisville get a gig at a local club, but the show turns sour when the vain, pretentious glam-punk Otis (Ian Svenonius) goes onstage and smacks Tara (Tara Jane O’Neil), the quintet’s spiritual leader—and his sister—for spoiling his encore. In revenge, Tara steals his van and equipment and drives her band to Chattanooga, where they scuffle along on fear and desperation. Though the aesthetic is rough-and-ready, Hawley is a sincere and sensitive storyteller who brings the characters to life with subtle, oblique touches that show who they are without saying too much about them. Casting highly regarded indie rockers and filling the soundtrack with their songs, Hawley movingly roots their music in a way of life as well as in the grimy urban landscapes they inhabit.” — Richard Brody, The New Yorker

“Bracing in its dry humor and first-hand accuracy.” — Godfrey Chesire, Variety

“Hawley and Galinsky know how to make pictures that shudder with feeling.” — Manohla Dargis, LA Weekly

Radiation, 1999. Co-Directed and Produced by Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley.

“One of the most original films about the music biz this reviewer has ever seen, Radiation follows the non-exploits of scheming promoter Unai (Unai Fresnedo), who sees his musical ambitions turn to dust as he screws up a European tour for indie darlings Come and then hopelessly tries to set things straight by halfheartedly screwing over everyone within three feet. ….Radiation hits the nail on the head when it comes to its portrayal of the lower echelons of the indie music world. Fresnedo, who in real life is — surprise! — an indie music promoter, is amazing in his role. Is he live or Memorex? This blurring of the line between artistic fiction and reality is disquieting to say the least, and directors Suki Hawley and Michael Galinsky clearly know whereof they film.” — Marc Savlov, The Austin Chronicle

Radiation premiered at The Sundance Film Festival in 1999 and went on to screen at over 40 international festivals. Featuring cameos by acts like Stereolab, Will Oldham, and Boston’s Come, the film was hailed by music and film critics for its accurate portrayal of life on the road.

Horns and Halos, 2002. Co-Directed by Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley. Produced by David Beilinson.

“A near perfect manifestation of radical, DIY media intervention, the video doc ‘Horns and Halos’ could not be more timely just as we hunker down for untold years of wartime sacrifice and imperialist self-rationalization, here is a David fable told by the barbarians at the Bush dynasty gate.” — Michael Atkinson, Village Voice

“A rich tale of our times, very well told with an appropriate minimum of means.” — David Kehr, New York Times

“Dark surprises…emotionally complex.” — David Ansen, Newsweek

“Fascinating, thoughtful and deeply affecting portrait of a screwed-up man who dared to mess with some powerful people.” – Michael O’Sullivan, The Washington Post

“Powerful and revelatory…” — John Anderson, Newsday

“Tragic.” — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

“This documentary is a rolling masterclass on the disturbing complicity of media, money and mendacity.” — Matthew Tempest, The Guardian UK

CODE 33, 2005. Co-Directed and Produced by David Beilinson, Michael Galinsky, Suki Hawley and Zachary Werner.

“Husband-and-wife helming team of Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley raised eyebrows with their 2002 docu ‘Horns and Halos’ about an ill-fated bio of George W. Bush and the mysterious death of its luckless author. Like that film, ‘Code 33’ exhibits an invigorating attention to detail and no-nonsense narrative confidence that immediately lifts it above the pack of over-pumped and blatantly manipulative skeins such as the ‘CSI’ franchise and ‘Cops.’ First conceived as a series-length tube profile of attractive and straight-talking forensic artist Samantha Steinberg, pic shifted gears when a string of seven rapes, against women ranging in age from 11 to 79, begin to attract national attention. A sterling example of the luck and skill necessary to have cameras rolling in the right place at the right time, pic exhibits an intimacy with the investigative process born of a year’s negotiation for access with the Miami and Miami-Dade County police departments. In a climactic encounter too good to have been scripted, the camera observes the suspect’s impromptu confession in a stairwell — followed by a tearful apology to the stone-faced and unforgiving police chief.” — Eddie Cockrell, Variety

“Code 33 is an uncommonly candid window into the mechanics of police work.” — Renee Rodriguez, Miami Herald

“Code 33 plays like a smart cross between CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and the spate of of crime-oriented reality television programs permeating the airwaves. But the compelling story line, involving the notorious case of a serial rapist in Miami, and the filmmakers’ skill at examining the subject from various viewpoints, gives it an original quality.” – Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

Battle for Brooklyn, 2011. Co-Directed by Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley. Produced by David Beilinson.

“In the movies, when David fights Goliath, we generally know who’s going to win. In real life, of course, it tends to be the other way around, as the compact and fascinating documentary ‘Battle for Brooklyn’ demonstrates. Compressing a seven-year civic struggle over a massive redevelopment project in the center of Brooklyn, N.Y. into 93 minutes, Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley’s film spins a compelling tale about the value of individual and collective resistance, even as it makes clear where power in our society really resides. Along the way, ‘Battle for Brooklyn’ tells the story of a love affair and a new family, and reminds us that even billionaires are not omnipotent.” — Andrew O’Hehir, Salon

“…Battle for Brooklyn is at its best showing how Atlantic Yards used the pretense of democracy to enrich the powerful, but how it also energized actual citizens to fight the good fight…” — Chris Smith, New York Magazine

“Shot matter of factly but possessing all the drama of a Hollywood drama, co-directors Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley begin with the 2003 announcement by the city and developer Bruce Ratner to build a stadium complex in Prospect Heights as a home for the relocated New Jersey Nets. Ratner buys out businesses in the surrounding blocks. Those who don’t take the cash are forced out using Eminent Domain law. But the money doesn’t entice Daniel Goldstein, who’d just bought his apartment on Pacific Street and slowly found himself, to his surprise, becoming an accidental activist. Goldstein becomes a thorn in Ratner’s side, the lone holdout amongst three buildings in what came to be known as ‘the footprint’ of the Atlantic Yards project. Goldstein emerges in the movie as a man who suddenly finds what he was meant to be, going from graphic designer to full-time community voice. He loses a fiancé, then later meets his future wife. He speaks up for the people, despite being painfully shy. It all ends in a gray victory, the kind New York is filled with. But ‘Battle for Brooklyn’ – a film about a project that is presently moving forward – is another kind of victory, one all New Yorkers can associate with, one about fighting back and standing your ground.” — Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News
“Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley, who co-directed this incisive documentary, have a thing for cranks, die-hards and malcontents. (Their previous movies include Horns and Halos, which charted the wobbly final days of failed Dubya biographer James Hatfield.) So the filmmakers emphasize Daniel Goldstein, a graphic designer who adamantly refused to sell his condo to Forest City Ratner…The critics won the backing not only of working class-identified local actors Steve Buscemi, Rosie Perez and John Turturro, but also of conservative columnist George F. Will. Aside from hip-hop mogul Jay Z and wife Beyonce, the developer-government bloc didn’t attract much celebrity support. But then, it didn’t need it. The money men could always buy friendly voices, even funding a local “astroturf” group to promote the project. The Empire State’s eminent domain laws are unusually loose, but most of the rest of this story is pertinent far beyond New York. Change a few names and add the next credit bubble, and a Brooklyn-style Battle could be headed to a neighborhood near you.” — Mark Jenkins, NPR

“In some ways ‘Battle For Brooklyn’ resembles Frank Capra’s ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ but even more so his ‘Mr. Smith Goes To Washington’ in its look at a relentless couple who fearlessly keeps fighting City Hall and its powerful allies at the expense of a social life and time to breathe, as the couple awakens a community and galvanizes a fight against a corporate and government structure that puts political roadblocks and legal linguistic contrivances in front of the resident taxpayers at every turn.” — Omar Moore, The Popcorn Reel

“The movie proves a deft look at a reluctant crusader and how financial sway and political override can so effectively trump the power of the average citizen.”— Gary Goldstein, The Los Angeles Times