FilmBuff To Release ALS Doc; Strong Eagle Media Inks Multi-Pic Deal

FilmBuff has nabbed U.S. distribution rights to Transfatty Lives, a documentary that follows filmmaker and New York DJ Patrick Sean O’Brien’s struggle with ALS. Initially given a prognosis of two to five years, O’Brien drew on the support of his friends and family, turning his camera on himself to document the progress of the disease over 10 years, from his initial diagnosis through his current paralysis. Winner of the Audience Award at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, the docu was directed and produced by O’Brien (aka DJ TransFatty). Transfatty Lives is set to bow in theaters and on all major on-demand platforms November 20. Michele Dupree, Amelia Green-Dove, Darin Hallinan, Marcia Mohiuddin and Doug Pray also serve as producers.

Anderson Media Corporation CEO Charlie Anderson and creative executive/executive producer Mike Camello are partnering to formulate a new production and distribution company called Charlie Mike Productions. The newly minted establishment already has inked its first multi-picture deal with Strong Eagle Media, the production company started by The Hornet’s Nest producers Christian Tureaud, David Salzberg and Bert Bedrosian.

Under the deal, Charlie Mike Productions has funded and will distribute Strong Eagle Media’s first two military films Citizen Soldier and Danger Close (the second and third of the company’s military trilogy), both of which are in production and slated to be released in 2016. The former is about Sgt. Eran Harrillan, an African-American patriot who leads his Oklahoma National Guard platoon on several dangerous missions in Afghanistan. Danger Close tells the story of Alex Quade, a gutsy female war reporter who embedded with U.S. Special Operations Forces for years in Iraq and Afghanistan. Anderson and Camello serve as executive producers. Alchemy, which recently acquired ANconnect, the former physical distribution arm of Anderson Media Corp., will release both films.