NEW YORK, NY (June 10, 2020) IFC Films announced today that it is acquiring North American rights to Shithouse, written, directed, and starring breakout talent Cooper Raiff, in his feature debut. Shithouse won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at the virtual 2020 SXSW Film Festival, where the film made its World Premiere in the Narrative Feature Competition section.
Shithouse, a tender college romance, won raves at the fest, drawing critical comparisons to the likes of Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise and Lena Dunham’s Tiny Furniture, all while Raiff set himself apart from the pack as a filmmaker-to-watch. Praise from press include Indiewire’s David Ehrlich calling the film “a vulnerable DIY gem” and The Austin Chronicle’s Richard Whittaker naming the film “a remarkable debut.”
The film stars Raiff, Dylan Gelula (The First Girl I Loved, Her Smell), Amy Landecker (Transparent, A Serious Man), and Logan Miller (Love Simon, The Stanford Prison Experiment) and is produced by Raiff, Divi Crockett and Will Youmans. Shithouse joins Tiny Furniture, Barry Jenkins’ Medicine for Melancholy, and Joe Swanberg’s Hannah Takes the Stairs in IFC Films’ tradition of acquiring SXSW award-winning films. IFC Films will release Shithouse in fall 2020.
Raiff stars in the film as Alex, a lonely, friendless college freshman who is seriously contemplating transferring to a college closer to his mom (Landecker) and sister (Olivia Welch), to whom he is still extremely tethered. Everything changes one night when Alex takes a leap and attends a party at his campus’ party house ‘Shithouse,’ where he forges a strong connection with his RA, Maggie (Gelula).
Arianna Bocco EVP of Acquisitions and Productions at IFC Films says, “Independent film has an extraordinary new voice in Cooper Raiff, and we were completely won over by this honest and endearing debut. We look forward to releasing what will be the first film of a long and promising career for him.”
Raiff also notes about the acquisition, “IFC Films is an amazing home for Shithouse. So many of my favorite movies live there. I’m incredibly excited for them to be in charge of releasing our movie.”
The deal for the film was negotiated by IFC Films’ EVP of Acquisitions and Productions Arianna Bocco and ICM Partners on behalf of the filmmaker.
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ABOUT IFC FILMS
Established in 2000 and based in New York City, IFC Films is a leading U.S. distributor of independent film. Its unique distribution model makes independent films available to a national audience by releasing them in theaters as well as on cable’s Video On Demand (VOD) and digital platforms.
Upcoming releases include THE TRUTH directed by Kore-eda Hirokazu and Shannon Murphy’s BABYTEETH. Some of the company’s successes over the years have included BOYHOOD, THE DEATH OF STALIN, FRANCES HA, MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, THE BABADOOK, TOUCHING THE VOID, 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS, CHE, SUMMER HOURS, ANTICHRIST, IN THE LOOP, JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK, TINY FURNITURE, and CARLOS. IFC Films has worked with established and breakout filmmakers, including Steven Soderbergh, Gus Van Sant, Spike Lee, Richard Linklater, Miranda July, Lars Von Trier, Gaspar Noé, Todd Solondz, Cristian Mungiu, Susanne Bier, Olivier Assayas, Jim McKay, Larry Fessenden, Paul Dano, Gregg Araki, Jacques Rivette, Claude Chabrol, Abdellatif Kechiche, Kore-eda Hirokazu, Abbas Kiarostami, Alfonso Cuaron, Noah Baumbach, Lena Dunham, Ethan Hawke and many more. IFC Films is a sister label to Sundance Selects and IFC Midnight, and is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc.