News

Plus: GoDigital picks up She’s The Best Thing In It; Lionsgate dates Army DogStrand Releasing has acquired all Us rights to Athina Rachel Tsangari’s comedy about a battle of male egos that premiered at the Locarno Film Festival.

Jon Gerrans and Marcus Hu of Strand Releasing brokered the Chevalier deal with Thania Dimitrakopoulou of The Match Factory and plans a spring 2016 release.

GoDigital has acquired Us digital and broadcast rights to Ron Nyswaner’s SXSW 2015 premiere She’s The Best Thing In It about New York theatre legend Mary Louise Wilson and will release on demand on February 23, 2016.Lionsgate’s Army Dog starring Casper Van Dien, Grace Van Dien, Stelio Savante and Annemarie Pazmino will open in the Us on January 12, 2016. Barking Cow Media Group, Fairway Film Alliance and Rogue Arts produced the family adventure.

XLrator Media has acquired North American rights to the SXSW documentary Mateo by Aaron I. Naar.

The film will be released theatrically on XLrator Media’s Pace multi-cultural releasing label in on August 21 and on VOD and iTunes four days later.

Mateo is a music-driven documentary that explores Mexican-American and Cuban cultures and rhythms.

Naar produced with Benjamin Dohrmann. Andrew Lauren, Louis Venezia and Adam Schlesinger served as executive producers.

XLrator Media’s Barry Gordon brokered the deal with Amanda Lebow on behalf of the filmmakers.

Grindstone has picked up North American rights to the amily adventure Army Dog starring Casper Van Vien, Grace Van Dien, Stelio Savante. Barking Cow Media Group, Fairway Film Alliance and Rogue Arts LLC produced the story about an Afghanistan veteran who returns to the Us with his bomb sniffer Army dog as they take an eventful family camping trip.Amplify Releasing has acquired worldwide rights from Matador to Amy Rice’s documentary...

While some Afm buyers were sitting on their wallets and spilling blood this year in hopes of scoring Quentin Tarantino’s Hateful Eight, others were ponying up for the schlock and genre awe that still sells in Santa Monica. This year a new trend brought heat to the halls of the Loews: Ebola. Not just ebola, but ebola zombies. Is anyone out there ready to see ebola spread to the undead?

Here’s one way to defuse the tacky sensationalism of Afm schlock-hawking: Apologize in advance. “Is it too soon?” genre seller Rob Hauschild asked the buyers and lookyloos who stopped, did double takes, and even took selfies with the poster for Ebola Zombies this year. He’d break the ice with a smile and a sheepish shrug. “I’m sorry!”

The audacity worked; Hauschild sold Ebola Zombies to Germany and is closing a deal with a Japanese distributor for his Wild Eye Releasing,...