Judith Krant’s SXSW Grand Jury Prize Award Winner MADE IN CHINA and Dia Sokol’s Comedic One-Night Stand Tale SORRY, THANKS Find Homes
New York, NY (May 25, 2010) – IFC Films, the leading American distributor of independent and foreign films, announced today that the company has acquired North American rights to two films that won over audiences at the 2009 SXSW Film Festival – Judith Krant’s fish-out-of-water comedy MADE IN CHINA and Dia Sokol’s SORRY, THANKS, a comedic tale of relationships, dating and one-night stands that stars Wiley Wiggins (DAZED AND CONFUSED) and Andrew Bujalski (MUTUAL APPRECIATION). IFC Entertainment will release both titles in June via its on demand platform which brings critically-acclaimed independent movies to on-demand viewers across the country.
President of IFC Entertainment Jonathan Sehring said: "MADE IN CHINA and SORRY, THANKS are charming and hilarious feature debuts. We’re really excited to welcome Judith Krant and Dia Sokol, two rising filmmakers, into the IFC family."
MADE IN CHINA won the Grand Jury Prize in Narrative Competition at the 2009 SXSW Film Festival, and director Judith Krant won the inaugural Chicken and Egg award for Emergent Female Director. Co-written by Krant and Dan Sumpter (who also stars in the film), the film is a quixotic road picture about a small town inventor’s single-minded conviction that his "humorous domestic hygiene product" will take the world by storm, if only he can find a manufacturer. The film follows the comedic misadventures of Johnson (Jackson Kuehn) as he travels from rural East Texas to the mecca of the novelty world: China. As Johnson’s story unfolds, we learn the true stories behind his heroes: iconic novelty inventors of the pet rock, Slinky, handshake buzzer, ant farm, and many others. Lost in the backstreets of Shanghai, and the waiting arms of con men and custom tailors, Johnson discovers that it takes more than a million dollar idea to make it to the big time.
"This was the opportunity of a lifetime," said Krant. "We wanted to bring the indie lens to Mainland China and show audiences a side of Shanghai they haven’t seen before, which is why we shot guerilla style and keep our crew inconspicuous."
Sokol (producer of NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS and BEESWAX) makes her feature directorial debut with SORRY, THANKS, a film co-written with Lauren Veloski. In the film, disaster looms when Kira (reeling from a brutal break-up) sleeps with the disheveled Max (who already has a girlfriend), and Max in turn decides he’ll dabble in two new pursuits: an obsessive-tending interest in Kira, and the mystery of whether he may in fact be an ass." The film marks a major return for Wiggins (DAZED AND CONFUSED’s Mitch Kramer) as the comedic lead and, in addition to Bujalski, also stars Ia Hernandez and Kenya Miles.
Dia Sokol said, "It’s exciting for me and the incredible team of people who I worked with to think about SORRY, THANKS finding its audience nationwide. We hope people laugh at the funny parts."
The deal for MADE IN CHINA was negotiated by Jeff Deutchman for IFC Films and Orly Ravid of The Film Collaborative on behalf of the filmmakers. For SORRY, THANKS, the deal was negotiated by Jeff Deutchman for IFC Films and Ryan Kampe of Visit Films on behalf of the filmmakers.
About the Filmmakers
Judith Krant began her writing/directing/acting/producing career in elementary school, with her playground sensation: "There’s No Room for You in My Bomb Shelter." Storytelling has been her thing ever since. MADE IN CHINA is her feature film debut.
Dia Sokol began her career as the in-house producer for acclaimed director Errol Morris on The Fog of War, Mr. Death and his television series, "First Person." Dia is the producer for award winning writer/director Andrew Bujalski (Funny Ha Ha, Mutual Appreciation), and she was nominated for a 2010 Independent Spirit Award for her producing work on his most recent film, Beeswax. In the world of television, Dia is the executive producer of MTV’s hit series "16 and Pregnant". Sorry, Thanks is her feature film making debut.
About IFC Entertainment
A leader in the independent film industry, IFC Entertainment consists of multiple brands that are devoted to bringing the best of specialty films to the largest possible audience: IFC Films, Festival Direct, IFC Productions, and the IFC Center. IFC Films is a leading distributor of independent film. Its unique day and date distribution model, ’IFC In Theaters,’ makes independent films available to a national audience by releasing them simultaneously in theaters as well as on cable’s On Demand platform and through Pay-Per-View, reaching 50 million homes. ’IFC Festival Direct’ features a wide selection of titles acquired from major international film festivals and offers them exclusively through Video on Demand. IFC Center is a five screen, state-of-the-art cinema with luxurious seating and HD digital and 35mm projection that shows art-house films in the heart of New York’s Greenwich Village. IFC Entertainment’s companies are subsidiaries of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC.