New York, NY (May 7, 2010) – IFC Films, the leading American distributor of independent and foreign films, announced today that the company has acquired North American and multiple foreign rights including Asia, the Middle East and East-Central Europe to Aaron Katz’s critically acclaimed COLD WEATHER. Written, directed and edited by Katz, and produced by Brendan McFadden, Ben Stambler, and Parts & Labor’s Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy, the film stars Cris Lankenau (Katz’s QUIET CITY), Trieste Kelly Dunn (UNITED 93) and Raul Castillo (DON’T LET ME DROWN). COLD WEATHER made its world premiere in March at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas where it emerged as one of the most critically acclaimed films of the festival. It will next be seen at the Los Angeles Film Festival and BAMCinemaFest. IFC Films will release COLD WEATHER via its IFC in Theaters platform which brings critically-acclaimed independent movies to on-demand viewers at home the same day they premiere in theaters.
Doug (Lankenau) has just moved back to his hometown of Portland, Oregon, to move in with his sister (Dunn), hoping for another chance at jumpstarting their grown up lives. When Doug’s ex-girlfriend comes to town unexpectedly, only to disappear shortly after, Doug, Gail, and their new friend Carlos (Castillo) appoint themselves as detectives in what they see as a real life Sherlock Holmes situation. While it is part classic mystery, at the heart of COLD WEATHER is a beautiful, natural story of family camaraderie and friendship.
President of IFC Entertainment Jonathan Sehring said: ""We’ve always been fans of Aaron Katz’s work but, with COLD WEATHER, he has made a great step forward as a filmmaker. It’s great fun to see him play with the detective/mystery genre and he’s aided by a wonderful cast and fantastic creative team. This is one of the most original American independent films of the year and we can’t wait to bring it to audiences via all of our various platforms."
"This film was a collaboration between a small group of friends who know and trust each other. When deciding who would release the film, it was important to us to continue to work in that spirit," said Katz. "Over the years, we’ve had a chance to get know the folks at IFC and see firsthand the way they support and champion independent film. From the start, they believed in the movie and their continued enthusiasm affirmed that we had found the ideal partner to distribute the film."
The deal was negotiated by Jeff Deutchman for IFC Films and with Ben Stambler on behalf of the filmmakers.
Worldwide sales company Visit Films has acquired international festival rights as well as sales rights in the countries not included in the deal with IFC. Visit will be premiering the film for sales at the 2010 Marche du Film in Cannes next week and is currently arranging for international and regional festival premieres.
About the Filmmaker
Aaron Katz was born in Portland, Oregon. In high school, he became interested in film and acting. When he realized that he wasn’t a very good actor, he decided to go to film school at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Immediately after graduation, he and two of his college roommates drove a beat-up 1963 Chevy Nova from North Carolina to Portland in order to make his first feature, DANCE PARTY, USA. QUIET CITY, his second feature, premiered at SXSW 2007. Subsequently, QUIET CITY had critically praised theatrical runs in several cites, appeared on a number of year-end top ten lists, was nominated for the John Cassavetes Award at Film Independent’s Spirit Awards, was released on DVD by Benten Films, and can now be seen on the Sundance Channel. Currently, Aaron lives in Pittsburgh.
About IFC Entertainment
A leader in the independent film industry, IFC Entertainment consists of multiple brands that are devoted to bringing the best of specialty films to the largest possible audience: IFC Films, Festival Direct, IFC Productions, and the IFC Center. IFC Films is a leading distributor of independent film. Its unique day and date distribution model, ’IFC In Theaters,’ makes independent films available to a national audience by releasing them simultaneously in theaters as well as on cable’s On Demand platform and through Pay-Per-View, reaching 50 million homes. ’IFC Festival Direct’ features a wide selection of titles acquired from major international film festivals and offers them exclusively through Video on Demand. IFC Center is a five screen, state-of-the-art cinema with luxurious seating and HD digital and 35mm projection that shows art-house films in the heart of New York’s Greenwich Village. IFC Entertainment’s companies are subsidiaries of Rainbow Media Holdings LLC.