UPDATE: It was easier for Deadline to splash an exclusive about the Ain't Them Bodies Saints deal last night than it was for the dealmakers to paper it. But Cassian Elwes and WME Global's Graham Taylor and Alexis Garcia finally closed with IFC Films' Arianna Bocco at 3 AM Los Angeles time, for a bit more than $1 million for U.S. rights. That means the reps will hold a mini-auction for Canadian rights'after they take a nap. I heard this morning from Elwes, who said Saints will benefit from a multi-platform strategy that the dealmaker/producer road-tested with Margin Call, and which he feels is a major reason the indie market is reinvigorated. On this deal, Elwes had his original flight canceled and had to take another back to L.A. They negotiated until he had to shut off his cell phone, and then continued when he landed. Plane rides factored into the festival more than once, as Wednesday (at 3:36 AM West Coast time), WME Global closed a deal with eOne for the cannibal tale We Are What We Are. I'd heard that the agents were on the same flight with the eOne team, and they were going back and forth'and getting testy at times but not enough where they had to be duct taped to their seats'on the way back to LA from Park City. By the time they landed, they were all smiling, and probably papered the deal with a Delta cocktail napkin for a platform theatrical release. When I asked Elwes why, like vampires, Sundance sellers and buyers only seem to get anything done between nightfall and dawn, he said: 'Unfortunately, you watch the movies during the day and the only time to make a deal is when most people are asleep.' A few more deals and then these agents and buyers all deserve a long winter's nap when this festival ends, as do the insomniac journalists who stalk them into the wee hours.
EARLIER EXCLUSIVE, January 24, 11:39 PM : After a protracted auction involving numerous distributors, IFC is near the home stretch to acquire North American rights to Ain't Them Bodies Saints, the David Lowery-directed drama that stars Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker and Keith Carradine. The film premiered Sunday in the U.S. Dramatic Competition category at the Eccles Theatre.
Deal is low seven-figures and Sony Pictures Classics, Roadside Attractions Bob Berney's revived Picturehouse and Magnolia were in the mix in an auction held by Cassian Elwes and WME Global's Alexis Garcia. The film is the tale of an outlaw (Affleck) who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife (Mara) and the daughter he has never met. The film received strong reviews and buyer buzz, and has established Lowery as a helmer to watch.
This marks the second deal of the day for WME Global, which is also closing a sale of S-VHS to Magnolia Pictures. The agency has had a heckuva festival, also brokering Fruitvale in a $2 million + deal to The Weinstein Company; a whopping $10 million deal with Fox Searchlight for The Way, Way Back (brokered with CAA); Don Jon's Addiction, which went for $4 million with a whopping $25 million P&A commitment to Relativity Media (with CAA); Inequality For All, which went to Radius-TWC; and We Are What We Are, the cannibal tale that played Park City At Midnight and sold to eOne. Still to go for the agency is A.C.O.D., which premiered Wednesday night, Big Sur and Blood Brothers.
Get Deadline news and alerts FREE to your inbox...
No comments:
Post a Comment