As a helpful primer for buyers who are thrust into auctions when they are still trying to get used to the dizzying effects of the thin air of Park City, here’s a look at how the films that sold at Sundance Film Festival 2014 fared at the box office marketplace. As you can see, there were some that were able to cross…

Obvious Child made waves at Sundance with its boundary-pushing set up—a romantic comedy about abortion? How outré!—and birthed a breakout turn by comedian and actress Jenny Slate, playing a Brooklyn stand-up comic whose arrested-development existence is threatened by a surprise pregnancy. Even as she was filming the…

Upstart indie distributor A24 said today it has secured a $50 million line of credit from Comerica and Union Bank of California. It said it will use the facility to “build out its core film distribution business and finance initiatives in complimentary industry verticals.” The company is coming off a busy Toronto…

UPDATE, 5:35 PM: NBCUniversal released the following statement to Planned Parenthood Action Fund, reiterating it did not turn down an Obvious Child ad for broadcast but acknowledging it did ask the media buyer to remove the word in a digital ad, which NBCU says was a mistake. Planned Parenthood, which by then had…

A24‘s Obvious Child opened to solid numbers in a crowded weekend some other distributors likely would rather forget. The abortion comedy, based on a 2009 short by filmmaker Gillian Robespierre, bowed with $81K in three theaters in NYC and LA for a robust $27K per-theater average. A24, which has had a nice winning…

EXCLUSIVE: Gillian Robespierre made a splash at this year’s Sundance Film Festival with the comedy Obvious Child. Her directorial debut about a Brooklyn comedian (Jenny Slate) who gets dumped, fired and pregnant just in time for the most chaotic Valentine's Day of her life was acquired by A24 for low seven figures in…

Liberty Global Set To Acquire Dutch Cabler Ziggo John Malone’s Liberty Global plans to expand its European cable holdings with an agreement to pay $9.4B in cash and stock for Dutch cable operator Ziggo. If regulators approve the deal, then Liberty — which already owns 28.5% of Ziggo — will merge it with UPC, another…

UPDATE, 4:34 PM: A24 has made its deal for the comedy official. Check out the release after the original break. PREVIOUS EXCLUSIVE, 3:54 PM: In the second big deal of the Sundance Film Festival, A24 has acquired Obvious Child. Written and directed by Gillian Robespierre, the film stars Jenny Slate as a Brooklyn…