New York, NY – June 21, 2007 – IFC Entertainment announced today that it has acquired all North American rights to Larry Fessenden's eco-horror thriller The Last Winter. The film will be released under the groundbreaking day and date distribution banner, IFC First Take, where it will simultaneously premiere theatrically and on local cable's On Demand platform. The announcement was made today by IFC Entertainment President Jonathan Sehring.
"The Last Winter is an exciting, scary and thought provoking thriller that can best be described as John Carpenter's classic horror film The Thing meets Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth," stated Sehring. "Larry is a filmmaker we have long admired and we are thrilled to finally have the opportunity to release one of his films. The Last Winter is a timely statement on what's happening to the world right now and Larry has brought his unique vision to shed light on our environmental troubles to a new audience."
The Last Winter premiered at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival and is screening at this week's LA Film Festival. Written & directed by Larry Fessenden and produced by Jeffrey Levy-Hinte (Thirteen and Laurel Canyon), The Last Winter stars Ron Perlman, James LeGros, Connie Britton, Kevin Corrigan, Jamie Harrold, Zach Gilford, Pato Hoffmann and Joanne Shenandoah.
The Last Winter takes place in one of the most pristine landscapes in the world where a team of people working to exploit oil resources of Alaska become tormented by an unseen entity. After one crewmember is found dead, disorientation slowly claims the sanity of the other members of the team as each of them succumbs to an unknown fear. This chilling supernatural thriller tells the story of the frightening reality of the planet transforming.
Arianna Bocco, Vice President of Acquisitions and Productions negotiated the acquisition of The Last Winter with Sarah Lash from Cinetic Films who represented the filmmakers.
As IFC Entertainment heads into the second year of its day and date program, First Take remains the first and only film distribution label fully dedicated to the day and date concept and executing a broad multi-picture strategy. Maximizing the use of theaters and video on demand technology, IFC has created the first centralized destination for independent films, providing a strong voice to the many critically acclaimed independent films that are shown in New York, Los Angeles, and various film festivals, but lost within the marketplace each year.
ABOUT IFC FIRST TAKE AND IFC ENTERTAINMENT
IFC First Take is the day and date distribution arm of IFC Entertainment. First Take releases twenty-four films a year, theatrically across the country and simultaneously through IFC In Theaters on VOD. IFC Entertainment also consists of IFC Films, a traditional distribution company, and the IFC Center in Greenwich Village. IFCE is a Rainbow Media company. Recent IFC First Take films include: ,i>The Aura, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, The Boss of It All, Black Sheep, This is England and Dan's Paris.
ABOUT RAINBOW MEDIA HOLDINGS LLC
Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC). Rainbow Media is a leading producer of targeted, multi-platform content for global distribution, creating and managing some of the world's most compelling and dynamic entertainment brands, including AMC, IFC, WE tv, Rainbow Sports Networks managed FSN Bay Area and FSN New England, LIFESKOOL, SPORTSKOOL, and VOOM HD Networks. Through its IFC Entertainment division, Rainbow Media also owns and manages the following: IFC Films, a theatrical feature film distribution company; IFC First Take/IFC in Theaters, a day and date theatrical feature film/VOD initiative; the IFC Center in New York City; IFC Productions, a feature film production company; and IFC Entertainment, which owns and operates a film library. Rainbow Media also operates Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation, its advertising sales division, and Rainbow Network Communications, its full service network programming origination and distribution company.