EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has a new trailer for Alaskan Nets, a sports documentary executive produced by Chris Pratt and his production company Indivisible Productions that Good Deed Entertainment is releasing on digital and VOD on April 8.
The film from director Jeff Harasimowicz takes viewers to an island that lies off the coast of Southeast Alaska. Remote and largely hidden from the outside world, it’s home to the Tsimshian natives of Alaska’s last remaining native reserve: Metlakatla. For more than a century, two sacred traditions have defined Metlakatla: fishing and basketball. Audiences will witness the improbable journey of cousins Danny Marsden and DJ King, fishermen and stars of the high school basketball team, as they lead their team and town toward their first state championship in more than 30 years—the only thing that will bring life back to an island that has undergone unimaginable tragedy.
Alaskan Nets made its world premiere last year in Documentary Competition at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, picking up its Audience Choice Award. Jeff Harasimowicz produced for Raised By Wolves with Ryan Welch of AO Films, in association with SLAM and RTG Features. Pratt—who spent some of his childhood in Alaska—exec produced alongside Jon Schumacher and Sahir Iqbal. Check out the trailer for Alaskan Nets above.
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EXCLUSIVE: Chloë Kerwin (Atlanta), Grant Harvey (Animal Kingdom), Gus Birney (Shining Vale) and Jared Abrahamson (American Animals) will star alongside Tim Blake Nelson in his son Henry Nelson‘s feature directorial debut, Asleep in My Palm, which recently wrapped production in Oberlin, Ohio.
The emerging writer-director’s film for Hideout Pictures and Strike Back Studios tells the story of a man (Tim Blake Nelson) and the daughter (Kerwin) he’s raising off the grid in northeastern Ohio, on the outskirts of an elite liberal arts college. It’s an intimate story about the relationship between the ideals of a liberal arts college and the realities of the poverty and isolation that surround it. The elder Nelson is producing alongside Shannon Houchins (Old Henry) of Hideout Pictures and Vince Jolivette (Zola), with Old Henry’s writer-director Potsy Ponciroli exec producing.
Kerwin is represented by Innovative Artists and Brillstein Entertainment Partners; Harvey by Allegory Creative Management, AFA Prime Talent Media and Gang, Tyre, Ramer; Birney by CESD Talent Agency and Suskin/Karshan Management; and Abrahamson by Lauren Levitt & Associates in Vancouver, Gersh and Canopy Media Partners.
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EXCLUSIVE: AnnaLynne McCord (Excision), Dean Cain (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman) and Stelio Savante (Infidel) have signed on to star in the supernatural thriller Condition of Return, from director Tommy Stovall (Room for Rent), which is heading into production in Arizona this summer.
In the film, a hapless psychoanalyst is tasked with determining a woman’s fitness to stand trial after she commits an unspeakable crime. In a contentious interrogation, he persuades her to recount her troubling past as she in turn shrewdly manipulates him into revealing secrets of his own. John E. Spare wrote the script. Stovall is producing alongside Marc Sterling through Pasidg Productions.
McCord is repped by Innovative Artists, Vault Entertainment and Yorn, Levine, Barnes; Cain by Buchwald, International Artists Management in the UK, Vault Entertainment and Kleinberg Lange Cuddy & Carlo; and Savante by SMS Talent, Giorgia Vitale in Italy, Opus Entertainment and Kaye & Mills.
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EXCLUSIVE: Freestyle Digital Media, the digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group/Entertainment Studios, has acquired North American rights to the dramedy Never Better, starring Sofia Bryant (I Am Not Okay With This), with plans to release it across VOD platforms on April 12.
The film from writer-director Julianne Fox is based on her own experiences of living with Cystic Fibrosis. It tells the story of Teresa (Bryant), a recent college grad with Cystic Fibrosis who is dealing with a difficult roommate during the summer of 2020. Stuck in the time loop of quarantine, she fights her boredom with beer, weed, and an unstoppable internal dialogue. But when her self-interested roommate Amanda (Sarah Kane) returns and fails to practice safe social distancing, Terese finds that boredom may be the least of her worries. Tensions rise as Amanda is unable to meet Terese’s standard of quarantine, and Terese struggles to communicate the gravity of her chronic illness which puts her at high risk for Covid.
Never Better also stars Piper Curda, Iris Liu and Tre’len Johnston. Porschia Adler produced alongside Justin Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios, with Inventing Anna director Nzingha Stewart exec producing. Freestyle Digital Media negotiated the deal to acquire the film directly with Fox and Adler. Check out the film’s trailer below.
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EXCLUSIVE: Glass House Distribution has acquired North American rights to writer-director Alek Lev’s Deaf and hearing ensemble comedy What? for release in theaters on April 8, with a release on VOD to follow later in the month.
The black-and-white, silent comedy inspired by the works of Charlie Chaplin tells the story of a Deaf actor (John Maucere) who is tired of the disrespect and discrimination he confronts in Hollywood. He decides—through sign language, gestures, and whatever it takes—to take matters into his own… hands.
What? made its world premiere at Dances With Films in 2021 and went on to play at a total of 23 festivals across 9 countries, winning 20 awards. The film also stars Josh Breslow, Jeremy Guskin, Marina Longares Escrichs, Josep Daniel Rosello, Amber Zion, Sheena Lyles, Keaton Talmadge and Anthony Natale. Maucere produced with his brother Paul J. Maucere under their banner The Maucere Brothers, with Cassandra Jones, Lev, and his partner in Hyphenate Films, Joel Viertel. Executive producers included Thomas and Terri Otto-Bruc, Uwe and Christina Schoenfeld, Robin Taylor, John Austin and Vanessa R. Vaughn, with Liz Tannebaum, John Austin and Jonathan Weiss serving as co-exec producers.
Tom Malloy negotiated the deal for What? on behalf of Glass House Distribution, with Paul J. Maucere on behalf of the filmmakers. Check out the trailer for the film below.
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EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has a new trailer and poster for See You Then, an LGBTQ drama from Vanishing Angle (Werewolves Within, The Beta Test) that Breaking Glass Pictures is releasing in theaters on April 1st, with a release on digital set for April 19.
The feature directorial debut of Mari Walker follows Kris (Pooya Mohseni), who, a decade after abruptly breaking up with Naomi (Lynn Chen), invites her to dinner to catch-up on their complicated lives, relationships, and Kris’ transition. Over the course of their one-night encounter, they engage in a series of increasingly intimate and vulnerable conversations, before a shocking revelation is unveiled.
The SXSW 2021 breakout tackling issues of gender identity, gender expression and transgender acceptance was written by Walker and Kristen Uno, who produced alongside Matt Miller and Mia Schulman. Bobbi Walker, David Walker, and John Jeffrey Martin of DiffeRant Productions served as exec producers. Check out the trailer for See You Then below.
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The Chimaera Project this week called for entries for its 2022 TO.GET.HER film production finishing funds program, which awards funds to U.S.-based directors who identify as women and non-binary, working in short and long formats.
The non-profit is seeking projects for both narrative and documentary mediums, across a range of genres, and will award up to $6,000 for to selected features, as well as up to $2,500 to selected short films. The regular submission deadline for both features and shorts is May 15, with the extended deadline being June 15.
The Chimaera Project is an organization dedicated to empowering women and non-binary filmmakers, which was founded in 2013 by filmmakers Shana Betz, Cheryl Bookout and America Young. In addition to supporting film and TV professionals through its finishing fund initiative, it provides an outlet to feature burgeoning talent, holds workshops on a wide variety of topics, and hosts panels highlighting careers in front of and behind the camera. More information on the organization can be found here. To apply for the TO.GET.HER program, click here.
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