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.

• Press Release: AMC to Exclusively Release ‘Smiley’
• Press Release: GKids to Distribute ‘Ernest & Celestine’
• Press Release: ‘The Citizen’ Premieres at Heartland Film Festival
• Press Release: GKids Places Four Pictures Into Oscar Consideration
• Press Release: New Django Unchained Image

Press Release: AMC to Exclusively Release ‘Smiley’

AMC THEATRES® PARTNERS WITH FEVER PRODUCTIONS FOR EXCLUSIVE ‘SMILEY’ THEATRICAL RELEASE ON OCTOBER 12

Los Angeles, CA (August 27, 2012) – AMC Theatres® and Fever Productions today announced an exclusive partnership on the national theatrical release of the highly anticipated horror/thriller film SMILEY from director Michael Gallagher (“Totally Sketch”). Beginning Oct. 12, AMC will exclusively release the film theatrically through its AMC independent platform on 28 screens in 14 markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston and Atlanta. The release will also be supported by a marketing campaign from AMC.

SMILEY, co-written by YouTube sensation Gallagher and Glasgow Phillips (“South Park”), and produced by Michael Wormser (“Some Guy Who Kills People”) of Level 10 Films, has an enormous fan base to call on. Gallagher and his YouTube partners on “Totally Sketch,” as well as the other performers in the film including Shane Dawson (“Shane Dawson’s TV”) and Toby Turner (“The Annoying Orange”), have over 11 million subscribers, 2.2 billion views and 4 million plus fans on Facebook/Twitter combined. The trailer has accumulated over 15 million views since its debut.

The story of the film follows a mentally fragile college student named Ashley (Caitlin Gerard from “Magic Mike” and “The Social Network”) who, after learning of an urban legend in which a mysterious serial killer named “Smiley” can be summoned through the Internet, must decide whether she is losing her mind or becoming Smiley’s next victim. SMILEY also stars Melanie Papalia (“Endgame”) and Andrew James Allen (“Make It or Break It”), with Roger Bart (“Desperate Housewives”), Keith David (“The Thing”) and Liza Weil (“Scandal”) rounding out the cast.

The deal was brokered by Michael Gallagher and Michael Wormser for Fever Productions and Nikkole Denson-Randolph, Vice President of Alternative and Special Content at AMC.

In addition to the AMC release, the film will be available on more traditional platforms including DVD, Blu-Ray, iTunes, Redbox and cable VOD after the traditional theatrical release window has closed.

“We are very proud to partner with AMC through the AMC independent program for the theatrical release of SMILEY. Nikkole and the entire AMC team have been tremendous partners in bringing the film to theaters, all across the nation. SMILEY is a truly independent film and AMC independent has created an unprecedented opportunity for filmmakers like myself to bring their films to mainstream audiences, without a middleman. This exciting partnership gives us the chance to deliver a thrilling, interactive moviegoing experience for the fans, just in time for Halloween,” said director Gallagher.

“We’re excited to partner with Michael Wormser, Michael Gallagher and Fever Productions as we help bring this movie, which continues to gather a growing interest, to a wider audience,” said Denson-Randolph.

Smiley’s Theatrical Markets include:

Atlanta:
AMC Southlake Pavilion 24; AMC Barrett Commons 14

Chicago:
AMC Crestwood 18; AMC Village Crossing 18, AMC Cicero 14

Cincinnati:
AMC Newport on the Levee 20

Columbia, SC:
AMC Dutch Square 14

Houston:
AMC Gulf Pointe 30; AMC Studio 30; AMC Deerbrook 24

Los Angeles:
AMC Ontario Mills 30; AMC Orange 30; AMC Norwalk 20; AMC Universal Citywalk 19; AMC Burbank Town Ctr. 8

Miami-Ft. Lauderdale:
AMC Aventura Mall 24; AMC Sunset Place 24

New York/New Jersey:
AMC Palisades Center 21; AMC Jersey Gardens 20; AMC New Brunswick 18

New York/Manhattan:
AMC Empire 25

Norfolk/Portsmouth/Newport News/Hampton:
AMC Hampton 24; AMC Lynnhaven 18

Philadelphia:
AMC Cherry Hill 24; AMC Neshaminy 24

San Francisco/Oakland-San Jose:
AMC Mercado 20

About Fever Productions, LLC:
Founded by filmmaker Michael Gallagher, Fever Productions is an independent production and distribution company specializing in making high quality content for the youth audiences of today. The company’s first project (sketch comedy web series “Totally Sketch”) has made an enormous impact with 820,000 Subscribers and over 320 Million Video Views. SMILEY is Fever Productions first feature film, with several other projects currently in development. Fever Productions and Michael Gallagher are represented by Dave Feldman of Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal LaViolette Feldman Schenkman & Goodman LLP.

About AMC Theatres:
AMC Theatres delivers distinctive and affordable movie-going experiences in 338 theatres with 4,865 screens primarily in the United States and Canada. The company operates 22 of the 50 highest grossing theatres in the country, including six of the top 10. AMC has propelled industry innovation and continues today by delivering premium sight and sound, enhanced food and beverage and diverse content. AMCTheatres.com.

Press Release: GKids to Distribute ‘Ernest & Celestine’

GKIDS IN DEAL FOR “ERNEST & CELESTINE”

WORLD PREMIERE CANNES 2012; NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE TIFF 2012

ENGLISH LANGUAGE VERSION AND US THEATRICAL RELEASE SET FOR FALL 2013

New York, New York – August 27, 2012 – GKIDS, a distributor of award-winning animation for both adult and family audiences, announced that it has entered into a distribution agreement with Studiocanal for the US rights to animated feature ERNEST & CELESTINE (Ernest et Célestine). Based on the popular children’s book series by author and illustrator, Gabrielle Vincent, and animated in sumptuous hand-painted watercolor design, the film tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a bear, Ernest, and a young mouse named Celestine. The production was spearheaded by Didier Brunner and Les Armateurs (Kirikou & the Sorceress, Triplets of Belleville, The Secret of Kells) with participation of Studiocanal, Maybe Movies, La Parti Productions, Mélusine Productions and France 3 Cinema. Studiocanal manages all rights as well as the international sales.

The film had its World Premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won special mention at Director’s Fortnight, and will make its North American premiere at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival. French release is set for December 12th 2012.

The deal was negotiated by Vanessa Saal for Studiocanal and Eric Beckman for GKIDS.

GKIDS is handling US theatrical, home video, digital and TV rights and will dub the film into English for release in Fall 2013. The pickup follows a spate of recently announced acquisitions by GKIDS including From Up on Poppy Hill (Studio Ghibli, Japan), Zarafa (Pathe, France), The Rabbi’s Cat (TF1, France), A Letter to Momo (Production I.G, Japan), Le Tableau (Rezo, France), and Wrinkles (Six Sales, Spain). This comes on the heels of two Best Animated Feature Oscar nominations this year for A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita.

GKIDS president Eric Beckman said, “We are overjoyed to be bringing Ernest & Celestine to US audiences. The film is a triumph of 2D animation and storytelling. A phenomenally beautiful hand painted watercolor design, immensely likable characters, a wonderful ‘friendship against all odds’ story that sweeps you up and does not waste a single minute of screen time. It is just overflowing with warmth and playful visual humor, there is so, so much to like about this movie.”

ABOUT GKIDS
GKIDS is a distributor of award-winning filmed entertainment specializing in animation for both adult and family audiences. The company has scored three Best Animated Feature Oscar® nominations in the past three years, with The Secret of Kells in 2010 and both A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita in 2012 – marking the first time an independent distributor has had two simultaneous nominations in the category. GKIDS also handles North American theatrical distribution for Oscar® winner Hayao Miyazaki’s famed Studio Ghibli library of films, one of the world’s most coveted animation collections with titles Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and others. GKIDS is producer of the New York Int’l Children’s Film Festival, an Oscar®-qualifying event and North America’s largest festival of film for children and teens. NYICFF jury members include Uma Thurman, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Modine, Jeffrey Wright, Gus van Sant, Christine Vachon, John Canemaker and James Schamus. www.gkids.tv/films

Press Release: ‘The Citizen’ Premieres at Heartland Film Festival

Sam Kadi’s ‘The Citizen’ to Have North American Premiere at the 21st Heartland Film Festival

Official Selection Will Screen In Competition at the October Festival in Indianapolis

Los Angeles, CA (August 27, 2012) – 3K Pictures announces today that director Sam Kadi’s debut drama THE CITIZEN will have its North American Premiere at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana on Monday, October 22nd at the AMC Castleton Square 14 theater at 7:15pm. The film was produced by Kadi, Chris Wyatt (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE) and Alan Noel Vega, with Ameer Kabour executive producing. The Heartland Film Festival started in 1992 as a small event in Indianapolis and has expanded over time to become one of the fastest growing film festivals in the country. Today, the annual film festival is a ten-day event full of independent films, a variety of special events for film enthusiasts of all ages and a one-of-a-kind experience in one of the Midwest’s most inviting cities. This year the festival runs from October 18th-27th.

THE CITIZEN tells the story of an Arab immigrant named Ibrahim (played by celebrated Egyptian actor Khaled Nabawy from FAIR GAME) who wins the American green card lottery, arriving in New York City on September 10th, 2001. In addition to Nabawy, the film’s cast includes Agnes Bruckner (BLOOD AND CHOCOLATE), William Atherton (GHOSTBUSTERS) and Cary Elwes (THE PRINCESS BRIDE).

The script took over three years to write and was co-written by the noted Arab American playwright Samir Younis (BROWNTOWN). Younis was living and working in New York on 9/11, and brought his experiences about the aftermath of that event to bear on the script.

About Sam Kadi:
Born and raised in Syria, Kadi attended the College of Engineering at the University of Aleppo where he founded the Marya Halab Theater Company. After seven years of theater, he moved to the U.S. in 2000 to pursue a career in the arts and eventually attended the Motion Picture Institute of Michigan, which he graduated from in 2007. Kadi made several short films including the eight-time festival winner RAISED ALONE. THE CITIZEN is Kadi’s feature film debut. Kadi was recently recognized by the prestigious foundation Cinema for Peace for raising awareness for human rights issues through film, and was invited to speak before the International Criminal Court at The Hague, The Netherlands on June 16, 2012. Kadi has been featured on numerous international and national television and radio programs including CNN, ART, and NPR.

Press Release: GKids Places Four Pictures Into Oscar Consideration

GKIDS PUTS FORWARD FOUR PICTURES FOR 2012 BEST ANIMATED FEATURE OSCAR® AND 2012 ANNIE AWARDS

New York, New York – August 29, 2012 – GKIDS, a distributor of award-winning animation for both adults and family audiences, announced today that it will have four feature films competing for the 2012 Best Animated Feature Oscar® and the 2012 Annie Awards. GKIDS is planning Academy® qualifying Los Angeles runs in November for FROM UP ON POPPY HILL, LE TABLEAU, THE RABBI’S CAT, and ZARAFA.

The company has received three Best Animated Feature Oscar® nominations in the past three years with The Secret of Kells in 2010 and both A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita in 2012, marking the first time an independent distributor has had two simultaneous nominations in the category. GKIDS also recently announced pickups of Ernest & Celestine from Studiocanal in France and A Letter to Momo from Production I.G in Japan. Both of these titles are slated to compete in the 2013 awards season.

GKIDS president Eric Beckman said, “It has truly been a banner year for international animation and we are extremely excited about our upcoming release slate. All four films are unique and wonderful, each in their own way, and we look forward to sharing them with Academy voters and audiences across North America.”

FROM UP ON POPPY HILL

Animation, Goro Miyazaki, Japan, 2011, 91 min

The latest release from Japan’s legendary Studio Ghibli was the top-grossing Japanese release of 2011 and took home the Japan Academy Prize for Animation. The film was directed by Goro Miyazaki from a screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki, with Hayao Miyazaki supervising the production, marking the first feature collaboration between father and son. An English-language version is currently in production by Studio Ghibli with Frank Marshall executive producing. Voice cast announcement is expected within the next two weeks. Set in Yokohama in 1963, the film centers on a high school couple’s innocent love and the secrets surrounding their births. The story takes place in a Japan that is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics – and the mood is one of both optimism and conflict as the new generation struggles to embrace modernity and throw off the shackles of a troubled past. The film’s rich color palette and painterly detail capture the beauty of Yokohama’s harbor and its lush surrounding hillsides, while the 1960’s pop soundtrack evokes nostalgia for an era of innocence and hope. The film will qualify in the English language version.

LE TABLEAU

Animation, Jean-Francois Laguionie, Japan, 2012, 78 minutes

French animation auteur Jean-Francois Laguionie’s latest work is a wryly-inventive parable executed in a stunning painterly style. A kingdom is divided into the three castes: the fully painted Alldunns who reside in a majestic palace; the Halfies who the Painter has left incomplete; and the untouchable Sketchies, frail charcoal outlines who are banished to the cursed forest. Chastised for her forbidden love for an Alldunn and shamed by her unadorned face, Halfie Claire runs away into the forest. Her beloved Ramo and best friend Lola journey after her, passing between the forbidden Death Flowers that guard the boundaries of the forest, and arriving finally at the very edge of the painting – where they tumble through the canvas and into the Painter’s studio. The abandoned workspace is strewn with paintings, each containing its own animated world – and in a feast for both the eyes and imagination, they explore first one picture and then another, attempting to discover just what the Painter has in mind for all his creations. The film will qualify in the original French language version.

THE RABBI’S CAT

3D, Animation, Joann Sfar & Antoine Delesvaux, France, 2011, 89 minutes

Based on the best-selling graphic novel by Joann Sfar, The Rabbi’s Cat tells the story of a rabbi and his talking cat – a sharp-tongued feline philosopher brimming with scathing humor and a less than pure love for the rabbi’s voluptuous teenage daughter. Algeria in the 1930s is an intersection of Jewish, Arab and French culture. A cat belonging to a widowed rabbi eats the family parrot and miraculously gains the ability to speak. Along with the power of speech comes unparalleled sardonic wit, and the cat – and filmmaker Sfar – spare no group or individual as they skewer faith, tradition and authority in a provocative exploration of (among other things) God, lust, death, phrenology, religious intolerance, interspecies love, and the search for truth. Rich with the colors, textures, and flavors of Mediterranean Africa, the film takes us on a cross continent adventure from the tiled terraces, fountains, quays and cafes of colonial Algiers to Maghrebi tent camps and dusty trading outposts, in search of a lost Ethiopian city. Joann Sfar is an award winning filmmaker (Gainsbourg) and one of France’s most celebrated comic artists. The film will qualify in the original French language version.

ZARAFA

Animation, Rémi Bezançon & Jean-Christophe Lie, France/Belgium, 2012, 78 minutes

The French box office breakout from animator Jean-Christophe Lie (Triplets of Belleville) and live action director Rémi Bezançon (A Happy Event) was inspired by the true historical account of a giraffe given as a gift to King Charles X of France by the Pasha of Egypt. Under a baobab tree, an old man tells the story of the everlasting friendship between Maki, a little boy aged 10 who has narrowly escaped slavery, and an orphaned baby giraffe named Zarafa. Hassan, Prince of the Desert, is instructed by the Pasha to deliver Zarafa to France. But Maki has made up his mind to do everything in his power to stop Hassan from fulfilling his mission and to bring the giraffe back to its native land – even if it means risking his own life. During an epic journey that takes them from Sudan to Paris, passing on the way through Alexandria, Marseille and the snow-capped Alps, they have many adventures, crossing paths with the balloonist Malaterre, a pair of mystical twin cows called Mounh and Sounh (Moon and Sun), and falling into the hands of the fearsome pirate queen Bouboulina. The film will qualify in the original French language version.

ABOUT GKIDS
GKIDS is a distributor of award-winning filmed entertainment specializing in animation for both adult and family audiences. The company has scored three Best Animated Feature Oscar® nominations in the past three years, with The Secret of Kells in 2010 and both A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita in 2012 – marking the first time an independent distributor has had two simultaneous nominations in the category. GKIDS also handles North American theatrical distribution for Oscar® winner Hayao Miyazaki’s famed Studio Ghibli library of films, one of the world’s most coveted animation collections with titles Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and others. GKIDS is longtime producer of the New York Int’l Children’s Film Festival, an Oscar®-qualifying event and North America’s largest festival of film for children and teens. NYICFF jury members include Uma Thurman, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Modine, Jeffrey Wright, Gus van Sant, Christine Vachon, John Canemaker and James Schamus. www.gkids.tv/films

Press Release: New Django Unchained Image

See image below: