New York, January 17, 2001 – Lions Gate announced today that they have acquired all domestic rights to the initial InDigEnt digital feature slate, including: Campbell Scott’s FINAL, Ethan Hawke’s CHELSEA WALLS, Bruce Wagner’s WOMEN IN FILM, Richard Linklater’s TAPE and Rodrigo Garcia’s TEN TINY LOVE STORIES. The innovative deal, covering all media, has a flexible structure, enabling each film to premiere in the medium-whether theatrical, pay cable or video-most appropriate to its scale. InDigEnt is the digital video film initiative created in 1999 by director Gary Winick, John Sloss and IFC Entertainment. TAPE and WOMEN IN FILM will world premiere at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival.
Inspired by the spirit of the Danish collective Dogma95 and John Cassavetes, IFC’s InDigEnt is exploring the world of digital cinema, drawing on established screenwriters, directors and actors. These InDigEnt filmmakers agree to work within a framework of budgetary and technical limitations in exchange for an innovative financial structure-the entire filmmaking team, from director, to actors, to grips share 50% of all revenue generated from the first dollar, creating the truest partnership yet in filmmaking.
Lions Gate Releasing’s Co-President, Tom Ortenberg, said, “These are some of the most cutting edge films out there right now, combining digital technology with top notch on-screen talent. As a leader in innovative filmmaking, InDigEnt is exactly the kind of company that Lions Gate wants to do business with.” President of Home Entertainment, Acquisitions and New Media, Peter Block, added, “We are extremely pleased to be able to capture so many great films within one great package. This deal give us the opportunity once again to work with IFC and the tremendous talent InDigEnt brings to the table.”
“InDigEnt has set itself apart-from day one-as the leader in digital entertainment by working with innovative and established talent and giving them the freedom to work creatively,” says IFC Entertainment President Jonathan Sehring. “We are delighted that these films have found a good home with Lions Gate Entertainment.” In time, the InDigEnt films will be collected as a series to premiere on the Independent Film Channel.
“We’re thrilled to be in business with Lions Gate Entertainment,” says John Sloss. “As a distributor, they are the most dynamic company going. Their energy and willingness to press the bounds of conventional movie marketing and distribution make them the perfect partner for what we are trying to accomplish with InDigEnt.”
The InDigEnt team consists of: Gary Winick and Alexis Alexanian, who oversee all productions through the InDigEnt office; Jonathan Sehring, President of IFC Entertainment, and Caroline Kaplan, Vice President, Film & Program Development, IFC Productions, who oversee production at IFC; John Sloss, a partner in InDigEnt; and Paul Brennan of Sloss Law Offices and Micah Green and Matt Littin of Sloss Special Projects who serve in a supervisory capacity.
Representing Lions Gate along with Ortenberg and Block was Randy Manis out of the Toronto office.
“Final,” follows Bill (Denis Leary) after he wakes up in a spare hospital room. He believes he is being prepared for his “final injection” by the government of 2399 and Ann (Hope Davis), his doctor, tries to reassure him and get at the root of his madness. In this psychological game of cat-and-mouse, the question remains for Bill: will Ann help him find his sanity or will she be holding the needle that does him in? “Final” was produced by Mary Francis Budig.
“Chelsea Walls” (formerly “Last Word on Paradise”) directed by Ethan Hawke, stars Kevin Corrigan, Vincent D’Onofrio, Kris Kristofferson, Robert Sean Leonard, Natasha Richardson, Uma Thurman, Tuesday Weld, Frank Whaley and Steve Zahn. Based on the play “Chelsea Walls” by Nicole Burdette, the film follows the contemporary residents of New York’s famed Chelsea Hotel, capturing a mosaic of dreamers and artists. It shot for three weeks on location at the famed hotel and was produced by Christine Vachon and Pam Koffler of Killer Films.
“Women in Film,” directed by Bruce Wagner, stars Beverly D’Angelo, Portia de Rossi and Marianne Jean-Baptiste as women of the film industry who are desperately searching for their place in Hollywood. Phyllis (D’Angelo) is an independent producer who is having difficulty getting her latest project together; Sara (Jean-Baptiste) is a casting director who is taking time out to care for her blind newborn baby; and Gina (de Rossi) is a masseuse who claims to have had every idea she’s ever had stolen by those around her. “Women in Film” is both a satire of the film industry and a celebration of women, produced by Pam Koffler and Christine Vachon of Killer Films.
In “Tape,” directed by Richard Linklater, Vin (Ethan Hawke), travels home to Lansing for a film festival and meets up with an old friend Jon (Robert Sean Leonard). Vin is still bitter about Jon stealing his high school girlfriend Amy (Uma Thurman) and can’t forget his greatest betrayal-Jon may have raped Amy. Jon and Vin play a tug-of-war of words all night in their hotel room, all of which Vin captures on tape. Just as the situation reaches a frenzied pitch, Amy arrives to recount her side of the story. The film was produced by Anne Walker and Detour Filmproduction.
“Ten Tiny Love Stories,” (formerly “Women Remember Men”) directed by Rodrigo Garcia (“Things You Can Tell By Looking at Her”), is a series of monologues where ten women talk about the man they remember most-the man who last loved them, the man who left them, the man who wasn’t enough, the man who was too cruel, the man who is only a distant memory, the man who passed away, the man they married and the man they sent away. The film presents an honest portrait of women, where memories are the only connection to the man that touched their lives. The film stars Debi Mazar, Radha Mitchell, Elizabeth Pe