RED DRAGON ACQUIRES
U.S. RIGHTS TO SUNDANCE HIT
MARK URMAN'S
PALADIN TO
DISTRIBUTE
THEATRICALLY
LOS
ANGELES (May 17, 2010)
DOUCHEBAG,
the edgy comedy about two brothers whose reluctant reunion after years
of
estrangement takes them on a riotous pre-wedding road trip, has been
acquired
for U.S. distribution by Red Dragon, it was
announced today. Founded in
2008 by entrepreneur investor Franck Dubarry, Red Dragon will partner on
the
project with former William Morris Independent head Cassian Elwes, along
with
Mark Urman, whose company, Paladin, will handle the film’s theatrical release and
marketing. A
September release is planned.
DOUCHEBAG
debuted in competition at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival to wide
acclaim from
audiences and critics alike, and marked the second feature for director
Drake
Doremus, whose first film, SPOONER, debuted in competition at the 2009
Slamdance Film Festival. DOUCHEBAG was produced by Jonathan Schwartz
through his Super Crispy Entertainment shingle (which also produced
SPOONER),
along with Marius Markevicius. The film, which stars Andrew Dickler and
Ben
York Jones as the brothers, received rave reviews from top critics,
including
Los Angeles Times' Kenny Turan, Entertainment Weekly
Gleiberman and KCRW’s “The Treatment” critic Elvis
Mitchell, among numerous
others.
About
the deal producer Schwartz says,
ecstatic to have Mark Urman and Franck Dubarry pushing this film and
believing
in it so much. Mark has always had amazing taste, and we’ve seen his
success in the past with Sundance films like HALF NELSON. It’s exciting to have people on board who
share our
enthusiasm for the genuine laughs and emotions that our beloved
DOUCHEBAG
provides.”
Urman
adds, “
am extremely excited to be teaming with Franck and Red Dragon, as well
as
Cassian, who brought us all together, in such an innovative
distribution arrangement,
which is only fitting given how fresh and original DOUCHEBAG itself is.
Drake
is a very accomplished filmmaker, wise beyond his years, and I think we
are
pretty wise ourselves for helping him further what will doubtless be a
great
career.”
The
deal was negotiated by UTA
Group, which represented the film on behalf of the producers, along with
attorney Lawrence Kopeikin of the firm Barnes Morris.
ABOUT
RED DRAGON
Red
Dragon Independent Film Company is focused on the creation, development,
and
production of genre films, particularly thriller and action, in the
$10-$35
million range. The company has already completed the production of Gela
Babluani's
Ray
Winstone, and Sam Riley. It is currently developing Alex Litvak’s penned
action story FIVE AGAINST A
BULLET. Also in development is a psychological thriller FOCAL POINT
scripted by Craig Garber, as well as the Israeli spy thriller LAND OF OUR
FATHERS, written by Soo Hugh and based on a true story.
ABOUT
PALADIN
Formed
in the summer of 2009 by independent film veteran Mark Urman, Paladin
release was the award-winning
DISGRACE, based on the acclaimed novel by Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee,
and starring two-time Oscar nominee John Malkovich. Other titles
distributed by the company include Tennessee Williams’ THE LOSS OF A
TEARDROP DIAMOND, starring
Bryce Dallas Howard and Ellen Burstyn, THE GREATEST, starring Pierce
Brosnan, Susan Sarandon,
and Carey Mulligan, HANDSOME HARRY, starring Jamey Sheridan, Steve
Buscemi,
Campbell Scott and Aidan Quinn and, coming in July, Angela Ismailos’ documentary,
GREAT DIRECTORS, starring
Bernardo Bertolucci, Ken Loach, John Sayles, and Agnes Varda, among
others. Paladin recently announced the May 21st release of KITES, a
Bollywood
romantic adventure that it will distribute in association with Reliance
Big
Pictures, followed by the May 28th release of the English-language
version of
the film entitled, KITES: THE REMIX, which Brett Ratner supervised and
will
officially present.
ABOUT
SUPER CRISPY ENTERTAINMENT
DOUCHEBAG
producer Jonathan Schwartz
Entertainment produced previous Sundance and critical faves WRISTCUTTERS
A LOVE
STORY
and Michael Haneke’s FUNNY GAMES, as
well as three other films this year, including THE WAY BACK, directed by
Peter
Weir and starring Jim Sturgess, Colin Farrell, and Ed Harris, and the
Cannes-bound KABOOM directed by Gregg Araki.
ABOUT
UNITED TALENT AGENCY
United
Talent Agency is one of the entertainment industry
talent and literary agencies,
representing many of world’s most widely-known
figures in every current and emerging area of entertainment, including
motion
pictures, television, books, music,
digital media and live entertainment.
The agency is also globally recognized in the areas of film finance,
film
packaging, corporate consulting, branding & licensing, endorsements
and the
representation of production talent. The DOUCHEBAG sale marks the
fourth
Sundance deal this year for UTA’s Independent Film
Group which also sold Rodrigo Cortes’ BURIED to
Lionsgate, Sebastian Junger’s RESTREPO to
National Geographic, and David Michod’s World Cinema Jury
Prize winner ANIMAL KINGDOM to Sony Pictures
Classics.
