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: The Lie
• Press Release: “Man on a Mission” Release Date Announcement
• Press Release: National Liar’s Day
• Press Release: Paladin to Release “Musical Chairs”
• Press Release: Studio Ghibli Restrospective

Image Gallery: The Lie

The Lie Image Gallery

Press Release: “Man on a Mission” Release Date Announcement

“Man on a Mission: Richard Garriot’s Road to the Stars” to have U.S. Theatrical Premiere January 13

Winner – Audience Award, Best Documentary, SXSW

New York, NY, November 17, 2011 – First Run Features announced today the U.S. theatrical premiere of the award-winning documentary Man on a Mission: Richard Garriott’s Road to the Stars, a riveting account of Richard Garriott’s lifelong quest to become the first son of an astronaut to blast into space. Man on a Mission opens January 13, 2012, in theaters and VOD platforms nationwide. Man on a Mission is directed by Mike Woolf and produced by Brady Dial.

Best known as the father of early computer games like Ultima and Ultima Online, Richard Garriott always wanted to follow in his astronaut father’s footsteps. But when eye problems made a career at NASA impossible, he turned to private space travel to make his dream come true. Man On A Mission captures everything from Garriott’s training in Russia to his launch aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, as well as life aboard the International Space Station, resplendent views of the earth from space, and a never-before-seen view from inside the capsule during the fiery re-entry to Earth.

Already a legend in the PC gaming world, Richard Garriott is known to millions of followers as “Lord British.” His Ultima series was one of the first fantasy game sensations and he became a godfather of today’s massive multiplayer industry with Ultima Online. But most people don’t know that his father, Owen Garriott, flew NASA missions on Skylab in the early 70’s and the Space Shuttle in 1983 – and that Richard always hoped to follow his father into space.

The trouble is, in order go into orbit from the U.S., you have to be a NASA astronaut. Being nearsighted, Richard knew at an early age that NASA was never option. But that didn’t stop him from dreaming. As he earned a fortune in the video game industry he worked tirelessly at making his dream a reality by investing in private space travel.

The only way for a private citizen to get to space is onboard a Soyuz rocket through the Russian space program – for a hefty $30 million. But the commitment is more than financial; the rigorous training takes upwards of a year and in Richard’s case, demanded extra physical sacrifice.

In riveting detail, Man on a Mission tracks Richard’s training, beginning at Star City, the mysterious headquarters for Russia’s space agency. As he learns about their previously secret history, Richard serves as a guide to the inner workings of Moscow’s mission control. He also works with NASA, and his father, to create a series of experiments aboard the space station. Richard doesn’t forget to pack his HD movie camera, and creates a dreamlike cache of home movie images from space.

The excitement is palpable as the countdown enters its final days, hours, and then minutes, until finally it’s time for lift off.

“In a sense, this is a $30 million documentary,” said Mike Woolf, director. “That was Richard’s price to achieve spaceflight. But viewers can join his epic journey in Russia, Kazakhstan, the Black Sea, NASA – and the Space Station – for only the price of a movie ticket.”

With the end of Space Shuttle program, NASA is turning to Russia and private industry to transport its astronauts. Man on a Mission: Richard Garriott’s Road to the Stars is a timely, enlightening look at those worlds that deftly captures the first moment in history when the son of an astronaut travels to space. “It’s an inspiring story that shows anything is possible, even if your dream is beyond the planet,” says Woolf.

Man on a Mission: Richard Garriott’s Road to the Stars is produced by Austin-based Beef & Pie Productions.

About First Run Features
First Run Features has been a leading indie film distributor since 1979. Two years ago, the company celebrated its 30th Anniversary with a major retrospective at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Recent releases include the Academy Award-nominated documentary, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, Joe Berlinger’s Crude, and Kings of Pastry, from filmmaking legends DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus. For more information, go to www.firstrunfeatures.com.

About the filmmakers
Mike Woolf is the director for Beef & Pie Productions, an Austin-based production company that shoots commercials (Southwest Airlines), web content (US Air Force) and their own documentaries. Brady Dial is an independent film producer who develops documentaries and genre features. His previous project was the IMAX film Ride Around the World.

About Richard Garriott
Richard is always exploring new territory in the real and virtual worlds. Most recently, he has been developing mobile and social games for Facebook and other platforms with his new company, Portalarium. He continues to support private space advancements and environmental causes, inspired by his orbital views of a heavily industrialized earth seen on his space flight. His latest adventure is married life, having recently wed longtime friend Laetitia Pichot de Cayeux.

Press Release: National Liar’s Day

Guilt-Ridden Liars Across U.S. Rejoice at Announcement of National Liar’s Remorse Day

National Liar’s Remorse Day to coincide with theatrical release of THE LIE on November 18, 2011!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: (New York, NY) November, 17, 2011 – Increasingly paralyzed by guilt, liars across the country are expressing relief at the announcement of National Liar’s Remorse Day, which will be celebrated on November 18, 2011. Timed to coincide with the release of THE LIE, National Liar’s Remorse Day will give otherwise well-meaning liars a nationally sanctioned opportunity to confess.

One of the holiday’s founders, a prominent psychologist, states that the holiday was created to address the recent nationwide surge in lying. “With everything that’s going on in our country, the truth just isn’t very appealing anymore. Ordinarily honest people are resorting to an option once reserved for politicians, bank executives and CEOs: large-scale lying. Unlike their liar counterparts in government and business, however, honest people tend to experience intensely unpleasant, often overwhelming feelings of guilt when they lie. National Liar’s Remorse Day was created to address that guilt, to give regular people across the country the opportunity to come clean.”

Repentant liars are invited to confess on THE LIE’s Official Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/theliemovie. The individual who shares the most compelling lie (as judged by THE LIE writer/director/star, Joshua Leonard) will receive a prize package to include a home lie detector kit and a $100.00 gift certificate to 1-800-FLOWERS to facilitate the liar’s atonement.

Initial response to the announcement of the holiday from liars across the country has been overwhelmingly positive. “Man, I have just got to get this thing off my chest,” a New York liar who preferred to remain anonymous stated. “This lie is huge. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill, ‘I got stuck in traffic’ kind of lie. I could get my face clawed off for this lie. I had no idea what I was going to do before National Liar’s Remorse Day came along. You better believe I’m counting the days until November 18.”

ABOUT NATIONAL LIAR’S REMORSE DAY
National Liar’s Remorse Day is a United States holiday observed on November 18. The inaugural holiday coincides with the theatrical release of THE LIE, directed and co-written by Joshua Leonard, who stars alongside co-writers Jess Weixler and Mark Webber. The holiday was created to allow ordinarily honest citizens a chance to confess and atone for their lies, thereby avoiding a chain reaction of deception that causes their lives to spiral out of control. Note: Due to the questionable nature of their remorse, politicians, corporate executives and celebrities are prohibited by law from participating in the holiday.

ABOUT THE LIE
When they first met, Lonnie (Joshua Leonard) and Clover (Jess Weixler) were young idealists, but an unplanned baby forced them to flip the script. Lonnie put his music on hold and got a shitty job. And now Clover is abandoning her activism for an “opportunity” in the corporate world. Drowning in disappointments, Lonnie decides he needs some time off work to reexamine his life. He calls in sick, but his abusive boss demands he show up or get fired. Lonnie panics and tells a shocking lie to justify his absence – and once the lie is out, there’s no going back. Now, it’s only a matter of time before the grenade he’s thrown on his life explodes and Lonnie is suddenly pushed to figure out who he is, what he wants, and just maybe, what it means to be a father.

Press Release: Paladin to Release “Musical Chairs”

Paladin Plays ‘Musical Chairs’

New Susan Seidelman Film to Open in Spring

NEW YORK, NY – November 18, 2011 – MUSICAL CHAIRS, the latest film by renowned director Susan Seidelman, will be released by Paladin, it was announced by company President, Mark Urman. A unique blend of dance, drama, and romance, the film stars newcomers Leah Pipes and E.J. Bonilla as a pair of unlikely lovers in contemporary New York who must face a number of challenges, both separately and together, before finding one another–and themselves. Also starring Tony-winner Priscilla Lopez, Jaime Tirelli, Laverne Cox, Morgan Spector, Auti Angel, Jerome Preston Bates, Nelson R. Landrieu, and Angelic Zambrana, MUSICAL CHAIRS was produced by Janet Carrus and Joey Dedio. Its first official presentation in New York will take place at Lincoln Center on January 28th as the centerpiece film of its annual “Dance On Camera” festival. Paladin plans to release the film in select engagements in March of next year.

Set against the exciting backdrop of competitive ballroom dancing, MUSICAL CHAIRS is about Armando (Bonilla) a Bronx-bred Latino who aspires to be a dancer but whose only way in is as handyman at a Manhattan dance studio, and Mia (Pipes), an Upper East Side princess who is the studio’s star performer. Though worlds apart, their shared passion for dance promises to bring them together until a tragic accident changes Mia’s life forever, and she finds herself wheelchair-bound at a rehab facility, with her dreams of a dance career shattered. Fortunately, Armando has enough dreams for both of them and, when he hears about a wheelchair ballroom dance competition that will soon be held in NY, he sees a way to return something to Mia that she thinks is lost forever. At first she is reluctant–wheelchair dancing, though highly popular overseas, is something she never even knew existed. But, with the help of several other patients at the rehab center, Armando organizes an intense training program that will bring them all center stage and in the spotlight. The prize is irrelevant; what they really stand to win back is their zest for life.

About the film Urman says, “everything about MUSICAL CHAIRS is a happy surprise except, of course, the excellence of the filmmaking. As in all her best work, Susan has put seemingly marginal characters front and center in her film, and shows us not what makes them different, but what makes them just like us. Her customary blend of wit and warmth is evident in every frame. Seidelman, whose most recent feature was the indie hit, “Boynton Beach Club,” has numerous studio titles to her credit, including “Making Mr. Right,” “Cookie,” and “She Devil,” as well as the pilot for the HBO series “Sex And The City” — but it was her earlier “outsider” films, “Smithereens,” (the first American independent film to be shown in competition at Cannes), and “Desperately Seeking Susan,” that propelled her to the forefront of her generation of filmmakers. About MUSICAL CHAIRS she says, “What appealed to me so much about this project was the diversity of the characters: culturally, physically, and gender-wise. I wanted to capture the energy and contrast that makes New York City such an interesting place to live and work.”

It was producer Janet Carrus, long active in charities benefitting the disabled, and herself an ardent ballroom dance enthusiast, who first had the idea of building a film around the phenomenon of wheelchair ballroom dancing, an activity long popular in Europe and Asia, but which is only now developing a wider following in the United States. About the film, which features both disabled and able-bodied performers in its rousing dance scenes, Carrus says, “Susan has succeeded in conveying the struggles we all face, both able-bodied and disabled, making our way, whether through life or on the dance floor. She has a real talent for embracing people in all their diversity and making them real, believable, and acceptable.” Fellow producer Joey Dedio, (who also co-stars in the film as Armando’s feckless uncle), says, “Paladin is the perfect home for this special film. Mark Urman, a staple of independent cinema, really ‘gets it,’ and we’re thrilled to be working with him to reach the widest possible audience.”

Capping off a busy year that included the highly successful release of Tom Shadyac’s “I AM,” Paladin’s most recent project was Tiffany Shlain’s award-winning documentary, “Connected,” which played theatrically throughout the fall. Next up for the company is the New Zealand smash-hit, “Boy,” by Taika Waititi, which opens in NY on March 2, 2012.

Press Release: Studio Ghibli Retrospective

GKIDS Brings Complete Studio Ghibli Film Retrospective to IFC Center

15 Titles from 1984 to 2008 including Hayao Miyazaki Masterpieces “Spirited Away” “Princess Mononoke” “My Neighbor Totor” “Castle in the Sky” “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind”

***New 35MM Prints***

Dec. 16 to Jan 12 at IFC Center, Advance Tickets at www.GKIDS.com

Retrospective to Visit L.A., Chicago, D.C., Toronto, Boston, S.F., Seattle and Other Major Markets
RETROSPECTIVE TO VISIT LA, CHICAGO, DC, TORONTO, BOSTON,

New York, New York – November 14, 2011 – GKIDS, a distributor of award winning animation for both adults and family audiences, is bringing a complete retrospective of films from Japan’s renowned Studio Ghibli to the IFC Center in New York from Friday, December 16 to Thursday, January 12. The run will include US premiere theatrical engagements for several titles.

All fifteen Studio Ghibli feature films produced between 1984 and 2008 will be presented, including Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award® winning Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, Ponyo, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Kiki’s Delivery Service. Films will be shown in both the subtitled and English dubbed versions. (See below for a complete list of titles.)

GKIDS recently entered into agreement with Studio Ghibli to handle North American theatrical distribution for their library of animated features. As the first engagements announced under the agreement, New York Film Festival presented a 25 year anniversary screening of Castle in the Sky and 10 year anniversary screenings of Spirited Away. LA County Museum of Art and Film Independent will be presenting these same anniversary titles in a special preview screening on November 26.

Following the IFC Center engagement, the retrospective will tour to major US and Canadian markets, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC, Toronto, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, and other cities, throughout the first half of 2012. GKIDS is also planning limited releases of select Studio Ghibli titles, many of which have never been released theatrically in the US, beginning late 2012.

Eric Beckman, GKIDS president, said, “I am both excited and deeply honored to be working with Studio Ghibli to bring this amazing slate of films to theaters across North America. I am in continual awe of the brilliance of the animation, the depth and humanity of the storytelling, and of the filmmakers’ understanding that even the youngest audiences are capable of appreciating all the subtlety and nuance that cinema has to offer. As Miyazaki has said ‘Children understand the complexity and uncertainty of things almost with their skin. They cannot be underestimated.’ ”

The Studio Ghibli agreement further solidifies GKIDS position as a home for award-winning animation. GKIDS began as a spin-off of New York International Children’s Film Festival and found early success securing a Best Animated Feature Oscar® nomination for The Secret of Kells in 2010. GKIDS has two films competing in the animated feature category for the upcoming Academy Awards®, European Film Award nominee A Cat in Paris, and Oscar®-winner Fernando Trueba’s Chico & Rita, also an EFA nominee. Chico & Rita is being released under GKIDS’ newly formed LumaFilms banner, due to the adult subject matter of the film.

ABOUT STUDIO GHIBLI
Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985 by animation directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata and is one of the most successful and well-respected animation studios in the world. Cultivating a creative force of talented directors, animators, and storytellers under the revered brilliance of Miyazaki and Takahata, Studio Ghibli’s films have been praised for their originality, dazzling animation, and epic storytelling. The films have become a beloved part of Japanese popular culture, and have garnered worldwide acclaim from audiences and critics alike. Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2002 and in 2005 Miyazaki was named one of “the most influential people” by TIME Magazine.

ABOUT GKIDS
GKIDS is a distributor of award-winning animation for both adult and family audiences. Theatrical releases include Tomm Moore’s Oscar nominated The Secret of Kells, Michel Ocelot’s acclaimed Azur & Asmar, European Film Award Best Animated Feature winner Mia and the Migoo, Nina Paley’s multiple-award-winning Sita Sings the Blues, and Japan Academy Prize winner Summer Wars by Mamoru Hosoda. Upcoming GKIDS releases include 2011 Berlin official selection A Cat in Paris and Annecy winner Eleanor’s Secret. GKIDS is also producer of New York Int’l Children’s Film Festival, North America’s largest festival of film for children and teens. NYICFF is an Oscar®-qualifying event and jury members include Uma Thurman, Susan Sarandon, Gus van Sant, Matthew Modine, James Schamus, Michel Ocelot, and Christine Vachon.

STUDIO GHIBLI FILMS – IFC CENTER – DEC 16 TO JAN 12

Title, Director (Producer) (Versions) (Year, RT)

• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind , Hayao Miyazaki (Isao Takahata) (Subtitled and dubbed (Uma Thurman, Shia LeBouf, Edward James Olmos,  Mark Hamill)) (1984, 116 min)
• Castle in the Sky, Hayao Miyazaki (Isao Takahata) (Subtitled only) (1986, 126 min)
• My Neighbor Totoro, Hayao Miyazaki (Toru Hara) (Subtitled and dubbed (Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, Tim Daly, Frank Welker)) (1988, 86 min)
• Kiki’s Delivery Service, Hayao Miyazaki (Hayao Miyazaki) (Subtitled and dubbed (Kirsten Dunst, Phil Hartman, Janeane Garofalo, Debbie Reynolds)) (1989, 102 min)
• Only Yesterday, Isao Takahata (Toshio Suzuki) (Subtitled only ) (1991, 118 min)
• The Ocean Waves, Tomomi Mochizuki (Nozomu Takahashi) (Subtitled only, digital only) (1993, 72 min)
• Porco Rosso, Hayao Miyazaki (Toshio Suzuki) (Subtitled and dubbed (Michael Keaton, Cary Elwes, Brad Garrett, David Ogden Stiers)) (1992, 94 min)
• Pom Poko, Isao Takahata (Toshio Suzuki) (Subtitled and dubbed (J.K. Simmons, Brian Posehn, Tress MacNeille, John DiMaggio)) (1994, 119 min)
• Whisper of the Heart, Yoshifumi Kondo (Toshio Suzuki) (Subtitled and dubbed (Ashley Tisdale, Cary Elwes,  Harold Gould, Brittany Snow)) (1995, 111 min)
• Princess Mononoke, Hayao Miyazaki (Toshio Suzuki) (Subtitled and dubbed (Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Gillian Anderson, Minnie Driver, Billy Bob Thornton, Jada Pinkett Smith, John DiMaggio)) (1997, 134 min)
• My Neighbors the Yamadas, Isao Takahata (Toshio Suzuki) (Subtitled and dubbed (James Belushi, Molly Shannon, Tress MacNeille)) (1999, 111 min)
• Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki (Toshio Suzuki) (Subtitled and dubbed (Daveigh Chase, Jason Marsden, Michael Chiklis, Susan Egan)) (2001, 125 min)
• The Cat Returns, Hiroyuki Morita (Toshio Suzuki) (Subtitled and dubbed (Anne Hathaway, Cary Elwes, Peter Boyle, Elliott Gould, Tim Curry, Andy Richter, Kristen Bell, Avril Lavigne)) (2002, 75 min)
• Howl’s Moving Castle, Hayao Miyazaki (Toshio Suzuki) (Dubbed (Christian Bale, Lauren Bacall, Billy Crystal)) (2004, 119 min)
• Ponyo, Hiroyuki Morita (Toshio Suzuki) (Dubbed (Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Liam Neeson, Tina Fey)) (2008, 101 min)