Film Slated for 2015 Theatrical Run, Followed by CNN Broadcast
RADiUS and CNN Films have partnered on an as yet untitled film about campus sexual assault, it was announced today. Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning director Kirby Dick, and Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning producer Amy Ziering (The Invisible War) will direct and produce the film. RADiUS will distribute the film theatrically and CNN/U.S. has acquired the broadcast rights.
One in five women is sexually assaulted while in college, according to the Campus Sexual Assault Study of the National Institute of Justice, yet only a fraction of these acts of sexual violence are reported to campus officials and law enforcement and, even fewer result in punishment for the perpetrators. Besides the terrible, immediate impact these assaults have on the individual survivors, many of the perpetrators remain free to offend again.
The untitled feature will follow the personal struggles of several people working to deal with their own trauma. Several survivors will come forward with their stories to their families and school administrations in the film. The filmmakers also point out the institutional similarities between this type of enabling environment, where reporting of assault is often discouraged, with that of the U.S. Military, which has struggled with its own crisis in sexual assaults. With the rising outrage in the wake of recent nationally publicized scandals associated with college and professional athletes accused of violent and sexual crimes, the filmmakers describe a near ‘tipping point’ in the way that such events are viewed.
“The statistics are staggering – our country has a moral obligation to address this issue. We hope our film will provide a wake-up call to our nation to better protect our students,” said director Kirby Dick.
According to RADiUS co-presidents Tom Quinn and Jason Janego, “The Invisible War was a landmark film that had a major impact within the military. That said, there’s still a lot more work to be done across every aspect of our society. In conjunction with the exceptional team of Amy and Kirby, CNN and this powerful film, we hope to draw attention and engage in real debates about this national crisis.”
“This type of important but sensitive material requires skilled handling by exceptional filmmakers,” said Vinnie Malhotra, senior vice president of development and acquisitions for CNN Worldwide, “Kirby and Amy are the perfect team to take on this challenge, as a natural follow up to their Academy Award-nominated and critically-acclaimed film, The Invisible War.”
The film is expected to be ready for theaters in 2015 and will appear as a CNN Films broadcast for the network later in 2015.
The co-production deal between RADiUS and CNN Films was negotiated by RADiUS co-presidents Tom Quinn and Jason Janego alongside Vinnie Malhotra and Stacey Wolf for CNN, and Marc H. Simon of Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard LLP and Dan Cogan of Impact Partners on behalf of the filmmakers.
RADiUS’ CITIZENFOUR opened to critical and box office success on Friday, Oct. 24 in theaters nationwide.
Other upcoming CNN Films include DINOSAUR 13, about paleontologist Peter Larson’s multi-year odyssey to bring his history-making find of the Tyrannosaurus rex “Sue” to the world; IVORY TOWER, which examines the financial value of a traditional college education; and LIFE ITSELF, a biographical profile of renowned film critic Roger Ebert.
About RADiUS
RADiUS is the boutique label of the Weinstein Company (TWC) and the first studio division dedicated to both multi-platform VOD and theatrical distribution. Utilizing both traditional and digital media, RADiUS brings the highest quality films and other specialty entertainment to a wider audience than ever before. Founded and led by Tom Quinn and Jason Janego, the label continues to develop innovative distribution strategies to make marquee content available to consumers where, when and how they want it. The label’s inaugural slate included such films as BACHELORETTE (the first multi-platform film to hit #1 on iTunes and the only multi-platform release to ever reach #4 for top Cable VOD performers) and Cannes competition entry ONLY GOD FORGIVES directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and starring Ryan Gosling and Kristen Scott Thomas. Recent releases include: Morgan Neville’s Oscar winner 20 FEET FROM STARDOM; Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s LOVELACE; Zachary Heinzerling’s Oscar nominated CUTIE AND THE BOXER (Sundance 2013 U.S. Documentary Directing Award), Jacob Kornbluth’s INEQUALITY FOR ALL (Sundance 2013 U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award) and Keanu Reeves’ directorial debut – MAN OF TAI CHI in which he also stars. In 2014, RADiUS’ slate features (among others): Bong Joon Ho’s runaway hit SNOWPIERCER, BLUE RUIN (winner of the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize at the Cannes Film Festival), Errol Morris’ THE UNKNOWN KNOWN, FED UP from Laurie David and Katie Couric, THE ONE I LOVE starring Elisabeth Moss and Mark Duplass (Sundance), Alexandre Aja’s HORNS starring Daniel Radcliffe (Toronto), Berlin titles: EVERLY (Salma Hayek), WHEN ANIMALS DREAM, and ESCOBAR: PARADISE LOST (Benicio Del Toro) as well as two time Tribeca Film Festival winner KEEP ON KEEPIN’ ON and BEYOND THE BRICK: A LEGO BRICKUMENTARY. The company is embarking on a CREEP trilogy alongside the Duplass brothers and Blumhouse Productions after the film’s highly praised SXSW premiere and announced it had acquired SXSW Grand Jury prize winner THE GREAT INVISIBLE. RADiUS just picked up the Anna Kendrick starrer THE LAST 5 YEARS, Chris Evans’ directorial debut BEFORE WE GO and Rose Byrne, Mark Duplass and Nick Kroll starrer ADULT BEGINNERS – all out of Toronto. Their new film CITIZENFOUR directed by Laura Poitras is in theaters today.
About CNN Films
CNN Films produces and acquires documentary feature films for theatrical exhibition and distribution across CNN’s multiple platforms. Amy Entelis, svp of talent and content development and Vinnie Malhotra, svp of development and acquisitions, oversee the strategy for CNN Films. Upcoming films include DINOSAUR 13, a paleontologist’s multiyear odyssey to bring the Tyrannosaurus rex “Sue” to the world; IVORY TOWER, exploring the financial value of a traditional college education; and LIFE ITSELF, a profile of renowned film critic Roger Ebert. For more information about CNN Films, please visit www.cnn.com/CNNFilms and follow @CNNFilms via Twitter.
About CNN
CNN Worldwide is a portfolio of two dozen news and information services across cable, satellite, radio, wireless devices and the Internet in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Domestically, CNN reaches more individuals on television, the web and mobile devices than any other cable TV news organization in the United States; internationally, CNN is the most widely distributed news channel reaching more than 271 million households abroad; and CNN Digital is a top network for online news, mobile news and social media. Additionally, CNN Newsource is the world’s most extensively utilized news service partnering with hundreds of local and international news organizations around the world. CNN is division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company.
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