Focus Features Press

Focus Features Acquires rights to Lisa Cholodenko's THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo star

PARK CITY, UTAH, January 28th, 2010 – Following its acclaimed world premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, Focus Features has acquired domestic and select international rights (the U.K., Germany, and South Africa) to Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right. Focus Features CEO James Schamus made the announcement today.

In the movie, two teenaged children conceived by artificial insemination get the notion to seek out their birth father and introduce him into the family life that their two mothers have built for them. Once the donor is found, the household will never be the same, as family ties are defined, re-defined, and then re-re-defined. Ms. Cholodenko directed the feature from an original screenplay that she wrote with Stuart Blumberg.

The Kids Are All Right stars three-time Academy Award nominee Annette Bening and four-time Academy Award nominee Julianne Moore as the parents; Mia Wasikowska (of this winter’s Alice in Wonderland) and Josh Hutcherson (Journey to the Center of the Earth) as their children; and Mark Ruffalo (this winter’s Shutter Island) as the donor. The film was produced by Gilbert Films’ Gary Gilbert and Jordan Horowitz, Antidote Films’ Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Mandalay Vision’s Celine Rattray, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, and UGC PH’s Philippe Hellmann.

Ms. Cholodenko’s previous features as director include Laurel Canyon and High Art, both of which she also wrote and both of which were also produced by Mr. Levy-Hinte. The latter world-premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, earning her the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. Ms. Cholodenko received her MFA from Columbia University, where Mr. Schamus was one of her professors in the mid-1990s. Mr. Blumberg wrote the original screenplay for Keeping the Faith, which Edward Norton directed and starred in, among other feature scripts.

Mr. Schamus said, “Lisa has made an extraordinary gem of a film that combines comedic surprise with poignant emotional truth. Not only is The Kids Are All Right infectiously funny and touching, but it’s also entirely accessible. We’re confident that audiences everywhere will fall in love with this family, as brilliantly brought to life by a remarkable cast of actors.”

Ms. Cholodenko commented, “The Kids Are All Right is all about family, and joining with Focus feels like a perfect marriage. I’m proud that the movie has now found such a special home.”

In a joint statement, the producers of The Kids Are All Right added, “We are so proud of the picture in every way and are thrilled that Focus – a company that has a long history of making groundbreaking films – is bringing this important, big-hearted, and hysterically funny movie to audiences.”

Bart Walker and John Sloss of Cinetic Media negotiated the deal on behalf of the filmmakers with regard to the North American rights, and collaborated with Inferno Entertainment on the international aspects of the deal.

This is the first film acquisition announcement from Mandalay Vision since its debut earlier this month, when The Kids Are All Right producer Celine Rattray was tapped as president. Mandalay Vision is the independent film label of Mandalay Entertainment Group. Vision’s film slate includes Salvation Boulevard, a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Larry Beinhart (Wag the Dog) which Mandalay Pictures optioned in 2009, and which George Ratliff (Joshua) will direct from a script that he wrote with Douglas Stone; and The Whistleblower, directed by Larissa Kondracki and starring Rachel Weisz, Vanessa Redgrave, and David Strathairn.

Focus Features and Focus Features International (FFI) (www.filminfocus.com) together comprise a singular global company, dedicated to producing, acquiring, financing, selling, and distributing original and daring films from emerging and established filmmakers – films that challenge mainstream moviegoers to embrace and enjoy voices and visions from around the world. The company’s flexible and nuanced approach to distribution allows it to support a wide range of films, from those geared to a single local market to worldwide hits. The company operates as Focus Features domestically, and as Focus Features International overseas.

Domestically, the Focus Features slate includes, in addition to The Kids Are All Right, Academy Award-winning writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man, starring Michael Stuhlbarg; Greenberg, from writer/director Noah Baumbach and starring Ben Stiller; the unique nonfiction feature Babies, directed by Thomas Balmès; Anton Corbijn’s suspense thriller The American, starring George Clooney; Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald’s Roman epic adventure The Eagle of the Ninth, starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, and Mark Strong; writer/directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s It’s Kind of a Funny Story; and Academy Award-winning writer/director Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere.

Focus Features and Focus Features International are part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.

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Coraline was nominated for the People’s Choice & International 3D Society’s Favorite Animated 3D Film of 2009 Award.   The other nominees were: Cloudy, Ice Age 3, Up and Monsters vs. Aliens.

Here’s the link:

Vote Coraline!

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Check out the debut of the Coraline featurette "Bringing the Characters to Life" on Apple Trailers!  (And don't miss that great BABIES promote on the top right). 

http://www.apple.com/trailers/

http://www.apple.com/trailers/focus_features/coraline/

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Check out the exclusive debut of The Eagle of the Ninth photo gallery on Yahoo! Movies.

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Starring Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts, Viola Davis, Zoe Kravitz, Aasif Mandvi, Lauren Graham, Jim Gaffigan for writer/directors Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck

NEW YORK, November 30, 2009 – Acclaimed writer/directors Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck’s new film It’s Kind of a Funny Story begins production in New York City this week. Focus Features holds worldwide rights to the project, which it is co-financing with Wayfare Entertainment.

Kevin Misher, who most recently produced Michael Mann’s Public Enemies and Dito Montiel’s Fighting, is producing It’s Kind of a Funny Story through his Misher Films with Wayfare Entertainment’s Ben Browning. Wayfare’s Michael Maher and Peter Rawlinson are executive producers; the company is in pre-production on the 3-D underwater epic Sanctum, to be executive-produced by James Cameron. Journeyman Pictures’ Jeremy Kipp Walker (Half Nelson, Sugar) is also executive producer of It’s Kind of a Funny Story.

Keir Gilchrist, who stars as the title character’s son on the hit television series United States of Tara, has the film’s lead role. Costarring are Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover), Emma Roberts (of the upcoming Valentine’s Day), Academy Award nominee Viola Davis (Doubt), Zoe Kravitz (The Brave One), Aasif Mandvi (The Proposal), Lauren Graham (of this winter’s NBC series Parenthood), and Jim Gaffigan (of Focus’ Away We Go).

The comedy-drama has been adapted by Ms. Boden & Mr. Fleck from Ned Vizzini’s 2006 novel of the same name; 16-year-old Craig (played by Mr. Gilchrist), stressed out from the demands of being a teenager, checks himself into a mental health clinic. There he learns that the youth ward is closed – and finds himself stuck in the adult ward. One of the patients, Bobby (Mr. Galifianakis), soon becomes both Craig’s mentor and protégé. Craig is also quickly drawn to another 16-year-old, Noelle (Ms. Roberts). With a minimum five days’ stay imposed on him, Craig is sustained by friendships on both the inside and the outside as he learns more about life, love, and the pressures of growing up. Ms. Davis plays Dr. Minerva, the adult ward’s staff psychiatrist; Ms. Kravitz portrays Nia, Craig’s longtime crush; Mr. Mandvi is cast as Dr. Mahmoud, a hospital psychiatrist; and Ms. Graham and Mr. Gaffigan play Craig’s parents, Lynn and George.

The movie is the third feature from the filmmaking team of Ms. Boden & Mr. Fleck, following Half Nelson (2006), for which lead actor Ryan Gosling received an Academy Award nomination, and Sugar, which was released theatrically earlier this year. Focus director of production Matthew Plouffe is supervising It’s Kind of a Funny Story for president of production John Lyons. It’s Kind of a Funny Story is scheduled to be released by Focus in November 2010.

Focus Features and Focus Features International (FFI) (www.filminfocus.com) together comprise a singular global company, dedicated to producing, acquiring, financing, selling, and distributing original and daring films from emerging and established filmmakers – films that challenge mainstream moviegoers to embrace and enjoy voices and visions from around the world. The company’s flexible and nuanced approach to distribution allows it to support a wide range of films, from those geared to a single local market to worldwide hits. The company operates as Focus Features domestically, and as Focus Features International overseas.

In addition to It’s Kind of a Funny Story, current and upcoming Focus Features movies include Greenberg, the new film from writer/director Noah Baumbach, starring Ben Stiller; the unique nonfiction feature Babies, directed by Thomas Balmès; Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald’s Roman epic adventure The Eagle of the Ninth, starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, and Mark Strong; Anton Corbijn’s suspense thriller The American, starring George Clooney; Academy Award-winning writer/director Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere; and Academy Award-winning writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man, starring Michael Stuhlbarg.

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KEIR GILCHRIST, ZACH GALIFIANAKIS, EMMA ROBERTS, VIOLA DAVIS, ZOE KRAVITZ, AASIF MANDVI, LAUREN GRAHAM, JIM GAFFIGAN CAST IN FOCUS FEATURES’ IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY FOR WRITER/DIRECTORS ANNA BODEN & RYAN FLECK

NEW YORK, November 2, 2009 – Acclaimed writer/directors Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck’s new film It’s Kind of a Funny Story, will begin production in New York City in early December and has confirmed casting for eight key roles. Focus Features holds worldwide rights to the project, which it is co-financing with Wayfare Entertainment. Focus CEO James Schamus made the announcement today.

Kevin Misher, who most recently produced Michael Mann’s Public Enemies and Dito Montiel’s Fighting, is producing It’s Kind of a Funny Story through his Misher Films with Wayfare Entertainment’s Ben Browning. Wayfare’s Michael Maher and Peter Rawlinson are executive producers; the company is in pre-production on the 3-D underwater epic Sanctum, to be executive-produced by James Cameron.

Keir Gilchrist, who stars as the title character’s son on the hit television series United States of Tara, will play the film’s lead role. Costarring will be Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover), Emma Roberts (of the upcoming Valentine’s Day), Academy Award nominee Viola Davis (Doubt), Zoe Kravitz (The Brave One), Aasif Mandvi (The Proposal), Lauren Graham (of this winter’s NBC series Parenthood), and Jim Gaffigan (of Focus’ Away We Go).

The comedy-drama has been adapted by Ms. Boden & Mr. Fleck from Ned Vizzini’s 2006 novel of the same name; 16-year-old Craig (to be played by Mr. Gilchrist), stressed out from the demands of being a teenager, checks himself into a mental health clinic. There he learns that the youth ward is closed – and finds himself stuck in the adult ward. One of the patients, Bobby (Mr. Galifianakis), soon becomes both Craig’s mentor and protégé. Craig is also quickly drawn to another 16-year-old, Noelle (Ms. Roberts). With a minimum five days’ stay imposed on him, Craig is sustained by friendships on both the inside and the outside as he learns more about life, love, and the pressures of growing up. Ms. Davis will play Dr. Minerva, the adult ward’s staff psychiatrist; Ms. Kravitz will portray Nia, Craig’s longtime crush; Mr. Mandvi is cast as Dr. Mahmoud, a hospital psychiatrist; and Ms. Graham and Mr. Gaffigan play Craig’s parents, Lynn and George.

The movie is the third feature from the filmmaking team of Ms. Boden & Mr. Fleck, following Half Nelson (2006), for which lead actor Ryan Gosling received an Academy Award nomination, and Sugar, which was released theatrically earlier this year. Focus director of production Matthew Plouffe is supervising It’s Kind of a Funny Story for president of production John Lyons.

Mr. Schamus said, “Anna & Ryan are two of today’s finest independent filmmakers. The compassion they always show towards the characters in their movies will be particularly in evidence in this humane comedy, especially as performed by these wonderful actors.”

Focus Features and Focus Features International (FFI) (www.filminfocus.com) together comprise a singular global company, dedicated to producing, acquiring, financing, selling, and distributing original and daring films from emerging and established filmmakers – films that challenge mainstream moviegoers to embrace and enjoy voices and visions from around the world. The company’s flexible and nuanced approach to distribution allows it to support a wide range of films, from those geared to a single local market to worldwide hits. The company operates as Focus Features domestically, and as Focus Features International overseas.

In addition to It’s Kind of a Funny Story, current and upcoming Focus Features movies include Shane Acker’s animated fantasy epic 9, starring Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly and produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov; writer/director Richard Curtis’ rock and roll comedy Pirate Radio; the unique nonfiction feature Babies, directed by Thomas Balmès; Greenberg, the new film from writer/director Noah Baumbach, starring Ben Stiller; Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald’s Roman epic adventure The Eagle of the Ninth, starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, and Mark Strong; Anton Corbijn’s suspense thriller The American, starring George Clooney; Academy Award-winning writer/director Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere; and Academy Award-winning writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man, which world-premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Focus Features and Focus Features International are part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.

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FOCUS FEATURES ANNOUNCES 2010 RELEASE SLATE,
PASSES $1 BILLION MARK IN DOMESTIC BOXOFFICE

NEW YORK, November 12th, 2009 – Focus Features CEO James Schamus today announced the company’s domestic theatrical release slate for calendar year 2010, with six confirmed movies to date.

Mr. Schamus said, “Next year’s Focus slate follows one of the company’s best years ever – our eighth profitable year in a row since our inception, and the year in which we passed the $1 billion mark in cumulative domestic box office alone.

“Our 2010 lineup is as audacious as any in our history, ranging from American indies like Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck’s It’s Kind of a Funny Story to big international productions like Anton Corbijn’s The American.”

Focus president Andrew Karpen noted, “This month’s tremendous showing at the American Film Market once again proves the resiliency and flexibility of Focus’ global approach to the business. The breadth, depth, and nuance we bring to the international release of each film on our slate – and our ability domestically to manage every kind of release, from specialized platforms to wide openings – is what truly defines Focus’s unique approach.”

Co-chairman of Universal Pictures Donna Langley said, “Focus’ 2010 slate further demonstrates its unique ability to continually develop and deliver some of the best and most compelling specialty films in our industry.”

Opening in select cities on Friday, March 12th will be Greenberg, starring Ben Stiller opposite Greta Gerwig. Noah Baumbach, an Academy Award nominee for his original screenplay of The Squid and the Whale (which he also directed), wrote Greenberg from a story conceived by Jennifer Jason Leigh and himself. Scott Rudin, an Academy Award winner as producer of No Country for Old Men, and Ms. Leigh are producing the movie, to which Focus holds worldwide rights. At a crossroads in his life, Roger Greenberg (played by Mr. Stiller) ends up housesitting at his brother’s home in Los Angeles. There, he strikes up an unlikely friendship with his brother’s assistant Florence (Ms. Gerwig), an aspiring singer. Florence and Greenberg’s encounters lead to an uncertain and wonderfully vulnerable courtship.

Babies will open in select cities domestically on Friday, April 16th. Focus also has select international rights to the feature, directed by Thomas Balmès from an original idea by Alain Chabat, who produced the movie with Amandine Billot and Christine Rouxel through his Chez Wam production company. The film simultaneously follows four babies around the world – from birth to first steps. The children are, respectively, in order of on-screen introduction: Ponijao, who lives with her family near Opuwo, Namibia; Bayarjargal, who resides with his family in Mongolia, near Bayanchandmani; Mari, who lives with her family in Tokyo, Japan; and Hattie, who resides with her family in the United States, in San Francisco. Re-defining the nonfiction art form, Babies joyfully captures on film the earliest stages of the journey of humanity that are at once unique and universal to us all.

Opening nationwide on Wednesday, September 1st will be director Anton Corbijn’s The American, starring Academy Award winner George Clooney in the title role. The American is Mr. Corbijn’s second feature film as director, following the award-winning 2007 drama Control. Focus holds worldwide rights to the suspense thriller, which is currently in production on location in Italy. Alone among assassins, Jack (played by Mr. Clooney) is a master craftsman. When a job in Sweden ends more harshly than expected for this American abroad, he vows to his contact Larry (Bruce Altman) that his next assignment will be his last. Jack reports to the Italian countryside, where he holes up in a small town and relishes being away from death for a spell. The assignment, as specified by a Belgian woman, Mathilde (Thekla Reuten), is in the offing as a weapon is constructed. Surprising himself, Jack seeks out the friendship of local priest Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli) and pursues romance with local woman Clara (Violante Placido). But by stepping out of the shadows, Jack may be tempting fate. The screenplay by Rowan Joffe is adapted from Martin Booth’s novel A Very Private Gentleman, published in 2005. The film’s producers are This is that’s Anne Carey; Smokehouse’s Grant Heslov; Smokehouse’s Mr. Clooney; Ann Wingate; and Jill Green.

The Roman epic adventure The Eagle of the Ninth will open nationwide in the third quarter of 2010. The film is co-financed by Film4 with Focus, which holds worldwide rights excluding U.K. free-TV. The Eagle of the Ninth, which wraps production on location in Scotland next week, is directed by Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald and produced by Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominee Duncan Kenworthy. Jeremy Brock, BAFTA Award-winning screenwriter of Mr. Macdonald’s 2006 film The Last King of Scotland, has adapted the screenplay from Rosemary Sutcliff’s classic novel of the same name. The Eagle of the Ninth is set in the dangerous world of second-century Britain. In 140 AD, twenty years after the unexplained disappearance of the entire Ninth Legion in the mountains of Scotland, young centurion Marcus Aquila (played by Channing Tatum) arrives from Rome to solve the mystery and restore the reputation of his father, the commander of the Ninth. Accompanied only by his British slave Esca (Jamie Bell), Marcus sets out across Hadrian’s Wall into the uncharted highlands of Caledonia – to confront its savage tribes, make peace with his father’s memory, and retrieve the lost legion’s golden emblem, the Eagle of the Ninth. The movie also stars Donald Sutherland, Mark Strong, and Tahar Rahim.

Acclaimed writer/directors Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck’s (Half Nelson, Sugar) new film It’s Kind of a Funny Story will open in select cities in November 2010. Production begins in New York City in early December 2009. Focus holds worldwide rights to the feature, which it is co-financing with Wayfare Entertainment. Kevin Misher is producing It’s Kind of a Funny Story with Ben Browning. The comedy-drama has been adapted by Ms. Boden & Mr. Fleck from Ned Vizzini’s 2006 novel of the same name; 16-year-old Craig (to be played by Keir Gilchrist), stressed out from the demands of being a teenager, checks himself into a mental health clinic. There he learns that the youth ward is closed – and finds himself stuck in the adult ward. One of the patients, Bobby (Zach Galifianakis), soon becomes both Craig’s mentor and protégé. Craig is also quickly drawn to another 16-year-old, Noelle (Emma Roberts). With a minimum five days’ stay imposed on him, Craig is sustained by friendships on both the inside and the outside as he learns more about life, love, and the pressures of growing up. Also starring are Viola Davis, Zoe Kravitz, Aasif Mandvi, Lauren Graham and Jim Gaffigan.

Reuniting writer/director Sofia Coppola with the film company with which she made the Academy Award-winning worldwide hit Lost in Translation, Focus will release her new movie Somewhere in 2010, with the exact date not yet set. Focus also has select international rights to the feature. In addition to directing Somewhere from her original screenplay, Ms Coppola is producing the feature with Roman Coppola and G. Mac Brown through American Zoetrope. Somewhere is the story of Johnny Marco (played by Stephen Dorff), a bad-boy actor stumbling through a life of excess at the Chateau Marmont Hotel in Hollywood. With an unexpected visit from his 11-year-old daughter (Elle Fanning), Johnny is forced to look at the questions we all must confront.

Focus’ 2009 releases have included LAIKA Entertainment’s Coraline, directed and adapted by Henry Selick, which was the first stop-motion animated feature to be conceived and photographed in stereoscopic 3-D, and which became Focus’ second-highest-grossing domestic release of all time; Shane Acker’s animated fantasy epic 9; writer/director Cary Joji Fukunaga’s Sin Nombre, which won two awards at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and is the year’s second-highest-grossing foreign-language film; and Academy Award-winning writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man, starring Michael Stuhlbarg.

Focus Features and Focus Features International (FFI) (www.filminfocus.com) together comprise a singular global company, dedicated to producing, acquiring, financing, selling, and distributing original and daring films from emerging and established filmmakers – films that challenge mainstream moviegoers to embrace and enjoy voices and visions from around the world. The company’s flexible and nuanced approach to distribution allows it to support a wide range of films, from those geared to a single local market to worldwide hits. The company operates as Focus Features domestically, and as Focus Features International overseas.

Focus Features and Focus Features International are part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.

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Tahar Rahim (Star of A Prophet) Joins Kevin MacDonald’s Roman Epic Adventure The Eagle of the Ninth for Focus Features and Film4; Filming Moves to Scotland

LONDON, October 19, 2009 – Tahar Rahim, the star of one of this year’s most acclaimed films, Un Prophète (A Prophet), has joined the cast of the Roman epic adventure The Eagle of the Ninth, currently being directed by Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald and produced by Duncan Kenworthy. The film is co-financed by Film4 with Focus Features, which holds worldwide rights excluding U.K. free-TV.

Heading the cast are Channing Tatum (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the upcoming Dear John), Jamie Bell (Defiance, Jumper), two-time Golden Globe Award winner Donald Sutherland, and Mark Strong (the upcoming Sherlock Holmes and Robin Hood). Mr. Macdonald is reunited on the new film with Jeremy Brock, BAFTA Award-winning screenwriter of his 2006 film The Last King of Scotland, who has adapted the screenplay of The Eagle of the Ninth from Rosemary Sutcliff’s classic novel of the same name.

The Eagle of the Ninth is set in the dangerous world of second-century Britain. In 140 AD, twenty years after the unexplained disappearance of the entire Ninth Legion in the mountains of Scotland, young centurion Marcus Aquila (played by Mr. Tatum) arrives from Rome to solve the mystery and restore the reputation of his father, the commander of the Ninth. Accompanied only by his British slave Esca (Mr. Bell), Marcus sets out across Hadrian’s Wall into the uncharted highlands of Caledonia – to confront its savage tribes, make peace with his father’s memory, and retrieve the lost legion’s golden emblem, the Eagle of the Ninth. Mr. Sutherland portrays Marcus’ uncle Aquila, who has retired in Britain; Mr. Strong is cast as Guern, an ex-soldier who holds crucial information about the Ninth.

Mr. Rahim will portray the Gaelic-speaking Seal Prince, the fearsome leader of a band of warriors who pursue Marcus and Esca through the highlands. The actor recently came to international prominence with his lead role in Jacques Audiard’s Un Prophète, which world-premiered at last spring’s Cannes International Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix. The film has since been selected as France’s official submission for the Academy Awards.

The Eagle of the Ninth is shooting entirely on location. Following six weeks in Hungary, where filming began in August, the unit has now moved to Scotland and will remain there until production wraps next month.

Duncan Kenworthy, an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominee for Four Weddings and a Funeral, developed and is producing The Eagle of the Ninth through his Toledo Productions. Caroline Hewitt is co-producer. Focus senior vice president, European production Teresa Moneo – who with Focus Features International president of sales and distribution Alison Thompson brought the project into the company – is supervising the film’s production with Film4 head Tessa Ross.

Anthony Dod Mantle, who won the Academy Award earlier this year for his cinematography of Slumdog Millionaire, is director of photography on The Eagle of the Ninth. 2009 Academy Award winner Michael O’Connor and Academy Award nominee Michael Carlin (both of The Duchess) are the film’s costume and production designers, respectively. Justine Wright will edit The Eagle of the Ninth, marking her fifth consecutive feature collaboration with Mr. Macdonald.

In addition to The Last King of Scotland, for which Forest Whitaker won the Best Actor Academy Award, Mr. Macdonald’s films as director include One Day in September, which won him the Best Documentary Feature Oscar; the mountain-climbing thriller Touching the Void; and, most recently, State of Play, starring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck.

Duncan Kenworthy has produced three of the most successful British films of all time: Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and Love Actually. Together, they have grossed nearly $900 million at the worldwide boxoffice. He has been nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards, and has won five BAFTA Awards and three Emmy Awards. He was made an O.B.E. in 1999 for services to film, and is vice president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). In 2004, he created the Toledo Scholarships at the National Film and Television School for British ethnic minority students; there have been eight Toledo Scholars so far.

Film4, headed by Tessa Ross, is Channel 4 Television’s feature film division. The Company develops and co-finances film productions and is known for working with the most innovative talent in the U.K., whether new or established. Film4 was a financier of Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, which won 8 Academy Awards earlier this year. Film4 partnered with Focus on Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges, for which star Colin Farrell won a Golden Globe Award. It also backed Steve McQueen’s Hunger, winner of, amongst other awards, the 2008 Cannes International Film Festival’s Camera d’Or; and Mike Leigh’s Oscar-nominated Happy-Go-Lucky, for which star Sally Hawkins won a Golden Globe Award.

Film4’s most recent releases include Ken Loach’s Looking for Eric and Michael Winterbottom’s Genova. Upcoming Film4 projects include Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones;Paul King’s Bunny and the Bull;Sam Taylor Wood’s Nowhere Boy;Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go;Xiaolu Guo’s She, A Chinese, which won the Golden Leopard at the 2009 Locarno Film Festival; and, with Focus Features International, and the UK Film Council’s Premiere Fund, Mike Leigh’s new film.

Focus Features and Focus Features International (FFI) (www.filminfocus.com) together comprise a singular global company, dedicated to producing, acquiring, financing, selling, and distributing original and daring films from emerging and established filmmakers – films that challenge mainstream moviegoers to embrace and enjoy voices and visions from around the world. The company’s flexible and nuanced approach to distribution allows it to support a wide range of films, from those geared to a single local market to worldwide hits. The company operates as Focus Features domestically, and as Focus Features International overseas.

Domestically, current and upcoming Focus Features releases include Shane Acker’s animated fantasy epic 9, starring Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly and produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov; writer/director Richard Curtis’ rock and roll comedy Pirate Radio; the unique nonfiction feature Babies, directed by Thomas Balmès; Greenberg, the new film from writer/director Noah Baumbach, starring Ben Stiller; Anton Corbijn’s suspense thriller The American, starring George Clooney; Academy Award-winning writer/director Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere; and Academy Award-winning writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man, which world-premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

In addition to the Focus slate, the FFI slate includes Robert Redford’s The Conspirator, starring James McAvoy, Robin Wright Penn, and Evan Rachel Wood; AGORA, an historical epic from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar, starring Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz; Alexander Voitinskiy’s Black Lightning, produced by Timur Bekmambetov; Derek Yee’s Shinjuku Incident, starring Jackie Chan; Academy Award-winning filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar’s Broken Embraces, starring Academy Award winner Penélope Cruz; and the untitled new film from writer/director Mike Leigh starring Jim Broadbent, Phil Davis, and Imelda Staunton.

Focus Features and Focus Features International are part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.

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Stephen Abbott, Matt Bishanga, Daouda Coulibaly, Matthew Jankes, Rungano Nyoni Awarded $10,000 for Shorts

NEW YORK, October 12th, 2009 – For the second consecutive year, five filmmakers have been awarded $10,000 apiece in Focus Features’ Africa First Program for short films, an initiative earmarked exclusively for emerging filmmakers of African nationality and residence. The five selected were named today by Focus Features CEO James Schamus.

The uniquely conceived initiative offers eligible and participating filmmakers the chance to be awarded $10,000 in financing for pre-production, production, and/or post-production on their narrative short film made in continental Africa and tapping into the resources of the film industry there. Just as important, the program brings the filmmakers together with each other and with a renowned group of advisors, major figures in the African film world, for support and mentorship. Complete details on Africa First can be accessed through www.filminfocus.com/africafirst.

The winning filmmakers for 2009 are Mr. Stephen Abbott (from South Africa), Mr. Matt Bishanga (from Uganda), Mr. Daouda Coulibaly (from Mali), Mr. Matthew Jankes (also from South Africa), and Ms. Rungano Nyoni (from Zambia).

The short films that they will be directing are, respectively, Dirty Laundry, a black comedy unfolding during one very long night in a laundromat; A Good Catholic Girl, a drama addressing questions of religion and marriage in Christian and Arab communities; As Long As Bozos Sing, a drama about a plague causing deafness in a West African community; Umkhungo, a science-fiction tale about a young boy from the slums of Hillbrow grappling with paranormal abilities; and The Adventures of Mwansa the Great, a fantasy in which a young Zambian boy’s imagination transforms everyday activities into an exciting quest.

Africa First is supervised by producer Kisha Imani Cameron (…Sometimes in April), whose Completion Films company has a first-look and consulting deal with Focus, and who coordinates the Program’s submissions and evaluations with Focus director of production Matthew Plouffe. In addition to on-site work in Africa, the winning filmmakers of Africa First will visit New York City later this fall for a weekend of one-on-one workshop discussions with members of the program’s international advisory board of experts in African cinema and such Focus executives as Mr. Schamus and president of production John Lyons, covering such topics as international distribution and the economics of studio financing; and with Ms. Cameron and Mr. Plouffe.

Mr. Schamus said, “I am looking forward to meeting all five filmmakers in a few weeks’ time. Last year’s Africa First team had incredibly talented and original filmmakers, and this year’s group of filmmakers looks to be just as exciting.”

Ms. Cameron added, “The response to Africa First has been truly overwhelming. I’m proud to work with these moviemakers of tomorrow, who represent such a diverse cross-section of talent, education, vision, and experience.”

The submission period began on June 1st, 2009 and ran through August 17th, 2009. The five filmmakers retain the copyrights and the distribution rights to their completed shorts, with the exception of North American rights; Focus retains those, as well as the right of first negotiation to productions derived from the shorts, such as a feature-length expansion.

Completion is developing feature, documentary, and television projects. Its president, Ms. Cameron, previously worked as director of development at Walden Media, and as an executive at New Line Cinema, where she oversaw the development and production of Spike Lee’s Bamboozled.

The Africa First advisory board members are Ms. Mahen Bonetti, founder and executive director of the African Film Festival; journalist and documentary filmmaker Ms. Jihan El-Tahiri; Ms. June Givanni, who for four years programmed the Toronto International Film Festival’s Planet Africa series; Mr. Clarence Hamilton, script editor and Head of Production at NFVF; Mr. Pedro Pimenta, producer and manager of training programs throughout South Africa; and Mr. Keith Shiri, founder/director of the Africa at the Pictures film festival in the U.K.

Launched in 2008, Africa First last fall awarded $10,000 apiece to five winning filmmakers; Mr. Edouard Bamporiki (from Rwanda), Ms. Jenna Bass (from South Africa), Mr. Jan-Hendrik Beetge (also from South Africa), Ms. Dyana Gaye (from Senegal), and Ms. Wanuri Kahiu (from Kenya). Their short films are, respectively, Long Coat, a drama about a young Hutu coming to terms with Rwanda’s and his own family’s past; The Tunnel, a 1980s-set story centering around a 10-year-old girl’s quest; The Abyss Boys, a thriller about an illegal trade in a small fishing town; the public transportation musical N’Dar [Saint Louis Blues]; and Pumzi [Breath], a futuristic sci-fi tale.

Current and upcoming Focus Features movies include Shane Acker’s animated fantasy epic 9, starring Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly and produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov; writer/director Richard Curtis’ rock and roll comedy Pirate Radio; the unique nonfiction feature Babies, directed by Thomas Balmès; Greenberg, the new film from writer/director Noah Baumbach, starring Ben Stiller; Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald’s Roman epic adventure The Eagle of the Ninth, starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, and Mark Strong; Anton Corbijn’s suspense thriller The American, starring George Clooney; Academy Award-winning writer/director Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere; and Academy Award-winning writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man, which world-premiered last month at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Focus Features and Focus Features International are part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.

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George Clooney Stars in the Title Role of The American

Directed by Anton Corbijn for Focus Features; Production on Suspense Thriller Beginning in Italy

NEW YORK, September 28, 2009 – Academy Award winner George Clooney stars in the title role of The American for director Anton Corbijn (Control). Focus Features holds worldwide rights to the suspense thriller, which begins production this week on location in Italy. Focus CEO James Schamus made the announcement today.

The screenplay by Rowan Joffe is adapted from Martin Booth’s novel A Very Private Gentleman, published in 2005. The film’s producers are This is that’s Anne Carey, who most recently produced Adventureland and The Savages; Smokehouse’s Grant Heslov, an Academy Award nominee as producer and co-writer of Good Night, and Good Luck, and producer/director of this fall’s The Men Who Stare at Goats; Smokehouse’s Mr. Clooney; Ann Wingate, who most recently produced Into the Storm, starring Emmy Award winner Brendan Gleeson; and Jill Green, executive producer of the long-running U.K. television series Foyle’s War. Enzo Sisti, co-producer of the upcoming When in Rome, is executive producer of The American.

Alone among assassins, Jack (played by Mr. Clooney) is a master craftsman. When a job in Sweden ends more harshly than expected for this American abroad, he vows to his contact Larry (Bruce Altman of this fall’s Peter and Vandy) that his next assignment will be his last. Jack reports to the Italian countryside, where he holes up in a small town and relishes being away from death for a spell. The assignment, as specified by a Belgian woman, Mathilde (Thekla Reuten of Focus’ award-winning In Bruges), is in the offing as a weapon is constructed. Surprising himself, Jack seeks out the friendship of local priest Father Benedetto (Italian screen and stage veteran Paolo Bonacelli) and pursues romance with local woman Clara (Italian leading lady Violante Placido). But by stepping out of the shadows, Jack may be tempting fate.

Focus senior vice president, production Kahli Small and creative executive Michael Pruss are supervising the project for president of production John Lyons. The American is Mr. Corbijn’s second feature film as director, following the award-winning 2007 drama Control, for which the director was honored with two British Independent Film Awards. The latter feature’s cinematographer and editor, Martin Ruhe and Andrew Hulme, respectively, are rejoining Mr. Corbijn on The American; Mark Digby and Suttirat Larlarb, both of Slumdog Millionaire, are production designer and costume designer, respectively.

Mr. Schamus said, “The combination of a visionary artist of the stature of Anton Corbijn with the great George Clooney is, for all of us at Focus, a movie marriage made in heaven.”

Focus Features and Focus Features International (FFI) (www.filminfocus.com) together comprise a singular global company, dedicated to producing, acquiring, financing, selling, and distributing original and daring films from emerging and established filmmakers – films that challenge mainstream moviegoers to embrace and enjoy voices and visions from around the world. The company’s flexible and nuanced approach to distribution allows it to support a wide range of films, from those geared to a single local market to worldwide hits. The company operates as Focus Features domestically, and as Focus Features International overseas.

In addition to The American, current and upcoming Focus Features movies include Shane Acker’s animated fantasy epic 9, starring Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly and produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov; writer/director Richard Curtis’ rock and roll comedy Pirate Radio; the unique nonfiction feature Babies, directed by Thomas Balmès; Greenberg, the new film from writer/director Noah Baumbach, starring Ben Stiller; Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald’s Roman epic adventure The Eagle of the Ninth, starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, and Mark Strong; Academy Award-winning writer/director Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere; Taking Woodstock, the new film from Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee; and Academy Award-winning writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man, which world-premiered earlier this month at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Focus Features and Focus Features International are part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.

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PRODUCTION ON SUSPENSE THRILLER BEGINNING IN ITALY

NEW YORK, September 28, 2009 – Academy Award winner George Clooney stars in the title role of The American for director Anton Corbijn (Control). Focus Features holds worldwide rights to the suspense thriller, which begins production this week on location in Italy. Focus CEO James Schamus made the announcement today.

The screenplay by Rowan Joffe is adapted from Martin Booth’s novel A Very Private Gentleman, published in 2005. The film’s producers are This is that’s Anne Carey, who most recently produced Adventureland and The Savages; Smokehouse’s Grant Heslov, an Academy Award nominee as producer and co-writer of Good Night, and Good Luck, and producer/director of this fall’s The Men Who Stare at Goats; Smokehouse’s Mr. Clooney; Ann Wingate, who most recently produced Into the Storm, starring Emmy Award winner Brendan Gleeson; and Jill Green, executive producer of the long-running U.K. television series Foyle’s War. Enzo Sisti, co-producer of the upcoming When in Rome, is executive producer of The American.

Alone among assassins, Jack (played by Mr. Clooney) is a master craftsman. When a job in Sweden ends more harshly than expected for this American abroad, he vows to his contact Larry (Bruce Altman of this fall’s Peter and Vandy) that his next assignment will be his last. Jack reports to the Italian countryside, where he holes up in a small town and relishes being away from death for a spell. The assignment, as specified by a Belgian woman, Mathilde (Thekla Reuten of Focus’ award-winning In Bruges), is in the offing as a weapon is constructed. Surprising himself, Jack seeks out the friendship of local priest Father Benedetto (Italian screen and stage veteran Paolo Bonacelli) and pursues romance with local woman Clara (Italian leading lady Violante Placido). But by stepping out of the shadows, Jack may be tempting fate.

Focus senior vice president, production Kahli Small and creative executive Michael Pruss are supervising the project for president of production John Lyons. The American is Mr. Corbijn’s second feature film as director, following the award-winning 2007 drama Control, for which the director was honored with two British Independent Film Awards. The latter feature’s cinematographer and editor, Martin Ruhe and Andrew Hulme, respectively, are rejoining Mr. Corbijn on The American; Mark Digby and Suttirat Larlarb, both of Slumdog Millionaire, are production designer and costume designer, respectively.

Mr. Schamus said, “The combination of a visionary artist of the stature of Anton Corbijn with the great George Clooney is, for all of us at Focus, a movie marriage made in heaven.”

Focus Features and Focus Features International (FFI) (www.filminfocus.com) together comprise a singular global company, dedicated to producing, acquiring, financing, selling, and distributing original and daring films from emerging and established filmmakers – films that challenge mainstream moviegoers to embrace and enjoy voices and visions from around the world. The company’s flexible and nuanced approach to distribution allows it to support a wide range of films, from those geared to a single local market to worldwide hits. The company operates as Focus Features domestically, and as Focus Features International overseas.

In addition to The American, current and upcoming Focus Features movies include Shane Acker’s animated fantasy epic 9, starring Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly and produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov; writer/director Richard Curtis’ rock and roll comedy Pirate Radio; the unique nonfiction feature Babies, directed by Thomas Balmès; Greenberg, the new film from writer/director Noah Baumbach, starring Ben Stiller; Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald’s Roman epic adventure The Eagle of the Ninth, starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, and Mark Strong; Academy Award-winning writer/director Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere; Taking Woodstock, the new film from Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee; and Academy Award-winning writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man, which world-premiered earlier this month at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Focus Features and Focus Features International are part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.

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Oscar winner Christopher Hampton adapting Screenplay from Joseph O'Neill novel

NEW YORK, September 16, 2009 – Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films and Sam Mendes’ Neal Street Productions are partnering to produce the feature film based on Joseph O’Neill’s novel Netherland for Focus Features. Mr. Mendes and partner Pippa Harris are producers for Neal Street, and Ms. Winfrey and company president Kate Forte are producers for Harpo, which optioned the novel last year upon publication. Focus will hold worldwide rights to Netherland. Focus CEO James Schamus made the announcement today.

Academy Award-winning screenwriter Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons) is scripting the adaptation, which is being developed with Mr. Mendes as a potential director. Mr. Mendes won the Best Director Oscar for American Beauty.

Neal Street recently signed a two-year first-look deal with Focus Features. Focus president of production John Lyons and senior vice president, international production Teresa Moneo are overseeing all Neal Street projects, including Netherland.

Mr. O’Neill received the 2009 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for Netherland, which is his third novel (following This Is the Life and The Breezes). Mr. Hampton was last year again an Academy Award nominee, for his screenplay adaptation of Focus’ Atonement. In Netherland, set in early 21st-century New York City, a lonely expatriate finds himself drawn to the sport of cricket, forming an unlikely friendship and discovering a rich world of immigrant culture previously unknown to him.

Mr. Schamus said, “We’re so glad to have Christopher join our creative partnership with Harpo and Neal Street, rendering an extraordinary gathering of talents even more so. This project’s emotional power has resonated with us all.”

Harpo Films, Inc. produces feature films and, through an exclusive deal with HBO, scripted television programming. Recent produced features have garnered the highest industry honors for quality, including The Great Debaters, directed by and starring Denzel Washington, which received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture (Drama). Telefilms include the multiple Emmy Award-winner Tuesdays with Morrie, as well as Their Eyes Were Watching God, starring Halle Berry.

Harpo Productions, Inc. produces the number-one-rated, award-winning The Oprah Winfrey Show; creates and develops original TV programming for primetime, syndication and cable television; and operates Oprah.com (www.oprah.com), a premier lifestyle website. Harpo Print, LLC and Hearst Magazines publish the monthly O, The Oprah Magazine publication. Harpo Radio, Inc. produces Oprah Radio (XM channel 156, Sirius channel 195 as part of its “Best of XM” package) on Sirius XM Radio. A joint venture between Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, a multi-platform company, will debut in 2010 in more than 70 million homes, on what is currently the Discovery Health Channel.

Founded in 2003 by Sam Mendes, Caro Newling, and Pippa Harris, Neal Street Productions has enjoyed a string of screen successes, including Revolutionary Road, Starter For Ten, Jarhead, Things We Lost in the Fire, and Focus’ Away We Go (directed by Mr. Mendes). Neal Street is also prolific in the theater world, having received a total of 15 Tony nominations this past spring for Shrek The Musical and Mary Stuart. Neal Street Theatricals was recently represented on the London stage by Mr. Mendes’ Bridge Project – a double bill of The Winter’s Tale and The Cherry Orchard at The Old Vic.

Focus Features and Focus Features International (FFI) (www.filminfocus.com) together comprise a singular global company, dedicated to producing, acquiring, financing, selling, and distributing original and daring films from emerging and established filmmakers – films that challenge mainstream moviegoers to embrace and enjoy voices and visions from around the world. The company’s flexible and nuanced approach to distribution allows it to support a wide range of films, from those geared to a single local market to worldwide hits. The company operates as Focus Features domestically, and as Focus Features International overseas.

Current and upcoming Focus Features movies include Shane Acker’s animated fantasy epic 9, starring Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly and produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov; writer/director Richard Curtis’ rock and roll comedy Pirate Radio; the unique nonfiction feature Babies, directed by Thomas Balmès; Greenberg, the new film from writer/director Noah Baumbach, starring Ben Stiller; Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald’s Roman epic adventure The Eagle of the Ninth, starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, and Mark Strong; Academy Award-winning writer/director Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere; Taking Woodstock, the new film from Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee; and Academy Award-winning writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man, which world-premiered last weekend at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Focus Features and Focus Features International are part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.

# # #

Contact: Adriene Bowles

FOCUS FEATURES/818-777-7499

V.J. Carbone

FOCUS FEATURES/212-539-4055

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NEW YORK, September 4, 2009 – Student Academy Award winner Shane Acker, whose first feature film, the animated fantasy epic  9, opens nationwide from Focus Features on Wednesday (9/9/09), has curated an animation showcase of short films, presented by Kodak.

Free of charge, some of the best and most original animated short films from around the world can be found at http://filminfocus.com/focusfeatures/film/9/showcase. Mr. Acker’s new action-packed adventure 9 is the feature-length expansion of his Academy Award-nominated 2004 short film of the same name, for which he also won the Student Academy Award.

The short films selected by Mr. Acker for the showcase are as follows;

Li Marhaban’s End of the Line, about a lonely young woman; Mr. Marhaban, a former furniture designer, deploys architectural perspective in mixed media and makes striking use of cut-out models

Tomek Baginski’s BAFTA Award-winning Fallen Art, a statement on the haunting impact of war; Mr. Baginski favors stylized pictures and was an Academy Award nominee for his earlier short The Cathedral

Géza M. Toth’s Maestro, an Academy Award-nominated short film that follows the Maestro as he readies for a big performance; Mr. Toth is the founder of the Tuesday Animation Studio, and his other shorts include Ergo and Mama

Oktapodi, also Academy Award-nominated, is about two lovestruck octopi; directors Julien Bocabeille, François-Xavier Chanioux, Olivier Delabarre, and Emud Mokhberi, all graduate students, worked for over seven months on the short

Jérémy Clapin’s Skhizein, about a man who gets struck by a meteorite and lives, was nominated for a César Award (France’s Oscar equivalent); Mr. Clapin graduated Saint Martin’s College and also directed Une Histoire Vertébrale

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Focus Features and Focus Features International (FFI) (www.filminfocus.com) together comprise a singular global company, dedicated to producing, acquiring, financing, selling, and distributing original and daring films from emerging and established filmmakers – films that challenge mainstream moviegoers to embrace and enjoy voices and visions from around the world. The company’s flexible and nuanced approach to distribution allows it to support a wide range of films, from those geared to a single local market to worldwide hits. The company operates as Focus Features domestically, and as Focus Features International overseas.

In addition to 9, upcoming Focus Features movies include writer/director Richard Curtis’ rock and roll comedy Pirate Radio; the unique nonfiction feature Babies, directed by Thomas Balmès; Greenberg, the new film from writer/director Noah Baumbach, starring Ben Stiller; Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald’s Roman epic adventure The Eagle of the Ninth, starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland, and Mark Strong; Academy Award-winning writer/director Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere; Taking Woodstock, the new film from Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee; and Academy Award-winning writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man, which world-premieres next week at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Focus Features and Focus Features International are part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.

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LONDON, August 24, 2009 – Filming begins today on the Roman epic adventure The Eagle of the Ninth, directed by Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald and produced by Duncan Kenworthy. Shooting entirely on location in Hungary and Scotland, the film is co-financed by Film4 with Focus Features, which holds worldwide rights excluding U.K. free-TV.

The cast is headed by Channing Tatum (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the upcoming Dear John), Jamie Bell (Defiance, Jumper), two-time Golden Globe Award winner Donald Sutherland, and Mark Strong (the upcoming Sherlock Holmes and Robin Hood). Mr. Macdonald is reunited on the new film with Jeremy Brock, BAFTA Award-winning screenwriter of his 2006 film The Last King of Scotland, who has adapted the screenplay of The Eagle of the Ninth from Rosemary Sutcliff’s classic novel of the same name.

Duncan Kenworthy, an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominee for Four Weddings and a Funeral, developed and is producing The Eagle of the Ninth through his Toledo Productions. Caroline Hewitt is co-producer. Focus senior vice president, European production Teresa Moneo – who with Focus Features International president of sales and distribution Alison Thompson brought the project into the company – is supervising the film’s production with Film4 head Tessa Ross.

The Eagle of the Ninth is set in the dangerous world of second-century Britain. In 140 AD, twenty years after the unexplained disappearance of the entire Ninth Legion in the mountains of Scotland, young centurion Marcus Aquila (played by Mr. Tatum) arrives from Rome to solve the mystery and restore the reputation of his father, the commander of the Ninth. Accompanied only by his British slave Esca (Mr. Bell), Marcus sets out across Hadrian’s Wall into the uncharted highlands of Caledonia – to confront its savage tribes, make peace with his father’s memory, and retrieve the lost legion’s golden emblem, the Eagle of the Ninth. Mr. Sutherland portrays Marcus’ uncle Aquila, who has retired in Britain; Mr. Strong is cast as Guern, an ex-soldier who holds crucial information about the Ninth.

Anthony Dod Mantle, who won the Academy Award earlier this year for his cinematography of Slumdog Millionaire, is director of photography on The Eagle of the Ninth. 2009 Academy Award winner Michael O’Connor and Academy Award nominee
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Michael Carlin (both of The Duchess) are the film’s costume and production designers, respectively. Justine Wright will edit The Eagle of the Ninth, marking her fifth consecutive feature collaboration with Mr. Macdonald.

“All of us at Focus are thrilled to be once again collaborating with our colleagues at Film4 – their support for the most exciting voices in British filmmaking is unparalleled,” said Focus CEO James Schamus.

Film4 head Tessa Ross added, “We’re incredibly excited to be working again with the wonderful Kevin Macdonald and his brilliant collaborators on this great project – Duncan, Jeremy, and our colleagues at Focus.”

In addition to The Last King of Scotland, for which Forest Whitaker won the Best Actor Academy Award, Mr. Macdonald’s films as director include One Day in September, which won him the Best Documentary Feature Oscar; the mountain-climbing thriller Touching the Void; and, most recently, State of Play, starring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck.

Duncan Kenworthy has produced three of the most successful British films of all time: Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and Love Actually. Together, they have grossed nearly $900 million at the worldwide boxoffice. He has been nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards, and has won five BAFTA Awards and three Emmy Awards. He was made an O.B.E. in 1999 for services to film, and is vice president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). In 2004, he created the Toledo Scholarships at the National Film and Television School for British ethnic minority students; there have been eight Toledo Scholars so far.

Film4, headed by Tessa Ross, is Channel 4 Television’s feature film division. The Company develops and co-finances film productions and is known for working with the most innovative talent in the U.K., whether new or established. Film4 was a financier of Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, which won 8 Academy Awards earlier this year. Film4 partnered with Focus on Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges, for which star Colin Farrell won a Golden Globe Award. It also backed Steve McQueen’s Hunger, winner of, amongst other awards, the 2008 Cannes International Film Festival’s Camera d’Or; and Mike Leigh’s Oscar-nominated Happy-Go-Lucky, for which star Sally Hawkins won a Golden Globe Award.

Film4’s most recent releases include Ken Loach’s Looking for Eric and Michael Winterbottom’s Genova. Upcoming Film4 projects include Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones;Paul King’s Bunny and the Bull;Sam Taylor Wood’s Nowhere Boy;Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go;Xiaolu Guo’s She, A Chinese, which won the Golden Leopard at the 2009 Locarno Film Festival; and, with Focus Features International, and the UK Film Council’s Premiere Fund, Mike Leigh’s new film.
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Focus Features and Focus Features International (FFI) (www.filminfocus.com) together comprise a singular global company, dedicated to producing, acquiring, financing, selling, and distributing original and daring films from emerging and established filmmakers – films that challenge mainstream moviegoers to embrace and enjoy voices and visions from around the world. The company’s flexible and nuanced approach to distribution allows it to support a wide range of films, from those geared to a single local market to worldwide hits. The company operates as Focus Features domestically, and as Focus Features International overseas.

Domestically, current and upcoming Focus release include Shane Acker’s animated fantasy epic 9, starring Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly and produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov; Park Chan-wook’s Thirst, winner of the Prix du Jury [Jury Prize] at the 2009 Cannes International Film Festival; writer/director Richard Curtis’ rock and roll comedy Pirate Radio; the unique nonfiction feature Babies, directed by Thomas Balmès; Greenberg, the new film from writer/director Noah Baumbach, starring Ben Stiller; Academy Award-winning writer/director Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere; Academy Award-winning writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man, world-premiering at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival; and Taking Woodstock, the new film from Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee.

In addition to the Focus slate, the FFI slate includes AGORA, an historical epic from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar, starring Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz; Alexander Voitinskiy’s Black Lightning, produced by Timur Bekmambetov; Derek Yee’s Shinjuku Incident, starring Jackie Chan; Academy Award-winning filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar’s Broken Embraces, starring Academy Award winner Penélope Cruz; and the untitled new film from writer/director Mike Leigh starring Jim Broadbent, Phil Davis, and Imelda Staunton.

Focus Features and Focus Features International are part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.

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DOMESTIC RIGHTS TO UNIQUE DOCUMENTARY BABY(IES) ACQUIRED BY FOCUS FEATURES FROM STUDIOCANAL;

FOCUS PACTS WITH ALAIN CHABAT'S WAM FILMS
PRODUCTION COMPANY IN FIRST-LOOK DEAL


CANNES, May 17, 2009 – Focus Features has acquired domestic and select international rights to the nonfiction feature Baby(ies) from co-producer StudioCanal. Baby(ies) was directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker Thomas Balmès from an original idea by Alain Chabat, who produced the picture with Amandine Billot and Christine Rouxel through his Chez Wam production company. Focus has also entered into a first-look deal with Chez Wam's Los Angeles-based subsidiary Wam Films, at which Mr. Chabat's producing partner is Stephanie Danan. Focus CEO James Schamus made the announcement today.

Capturing on film the earliest stages of the journey of humanity that are at once unique and universal to us all, Baby(ies) simultaneously follows four babies, in Mongolia, Namibia, San Francisco, and Tokyo, respectively, from birth to first steps. Every shot tells a story, as the adventure of a lifetime begins.

Baby(ies) will mark the first time that StudioCanal is direct distributor of a film in France, the UK, Germany, and the Benelux. StudioCanal is handling all other international sales. In addition to domestic rights, Focus has acquired the picture for Mexico, Italy, Scandinavia, Korea, and South Africa. Focus production coordinator Christopher Kopp is supervising the feature for president of production John Lyons, as Baby(ies) is currently in post-production for release in 2010.

Mr. Schamus said, "Seeing these little heroes during their formative moments makes Baby(ies) an extraordinarily entertaining experience, one that will appeal to any viewer of any age in any part of the world. With this movie, Thomas is re-defining the nonfiction art form."

StudioCanal president Olivier Courson commented, "We feel that Focus has the right creative vision for this special film, and we look forward to joining forces with their team to market and distribute the film across the planet and make it a big success in 2010."

Mr. Chabat added, "I've been discussing projects with James and John for a while, both remakes and originals. Their instant affection for this movie meant that Focus was the right home for our Baby(ies), and that the time was right to forge a creative partnership."

Wam Films recently produced A Thousand Words, starring Eddie Murphy, which is in post-production. Chez Wam has produced such French-language boxoffice hits as Prête-moi ta main (a.k.a. I Do), based on Mr. Chabat's own original idea and in which he starred; and Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre, which he also wrote, directed, and starred in.

As director, Mr. Balmès' documentary feature credits include A Decent Factory, which won a Europa Award, and which was filmed on location in China; Damages, filmed on location in Connecticut; and The Gospel According to the Papuans, honored with the Silver Spire Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival and filmed on location in New Guinea.

Focus Features and Focus Features International (FFI) (www.filminfocus.com) together comprise a singular global company, dedicated to producing, acquiring, financing, selling, and distributing original and daring films from emerging and established filmmakers – films that challenge mainstream moviegoers to embrace and enjoy voices and visions from around the world. The company's flexible and nuanced approach to distribution allows it to support a wide range of films, from those geared to a single local market to worldwide hits. The company operates as Focus Features domestically, and as Focus Features International overseas.

Domestically, the Focus Features slate includes Cary Joji Fukunaga''s epic dramatic thriller Sin Nombre, winner of 2 awards at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival; writer/director Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control, starring Isaach De Bankolé; Away We Go, directed by Academy Award winner Sam Mendes and starring John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph; Shane Acker's animated fantasy epic 9, starring Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly and produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov; Greenberg, the new film from writer/director Noah Baumbach, starring Ben Stiller; Academy Award-winning writer/director Sofia Coppola's Somewhere; Academy Award-winning writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen's A Serious Man; and Taking Woodstock, the new film from Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee.

Focus Features and Focus Features International are part of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.

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BEN STILLER STARRING IN UNTITLED NEW FILM FROM WRITER/DIRECTOR NOAH BAUMBACH;
PRODUCTION UNDERWAY IN L.A.; OSCAR WINNER SCOTT RUDIN, JENNIFER JASON LEIGH PRODUCING

UPDATE:  This film has now has the official title GREENBERG

NEW YORK, April 2, 2009 – Production began last week in Los Angeles on the untitled film starring Ben Stiller for writer/director Noah Baumbach, an Academy Award nominee for his original screenplay of The Squid and the Whale (which he also directed). Scott Rudin, an Academy Award winner as producer of No Country for Old Men, and Jennifer Jason Leigh are producing the movie, to which Focus Features holds worldwide rights. Focus CEO James Schamus made the announcement today.

Mr. Baumbach has written the original screenplay from a story conceived by Ms. Leigh and himself. At a crossroads in his life, Roger Greenberg (Mr. Stiller) ends up housesitting at his brother’s home in Los Angeles. There, he strikes up an unlikely friendship with his brother’s assistant Florence (Greta Gerwig of Hannah Takes the Stairs), an aspiring singer. Florence and Greenberg’s encounters lead to an uncertain and wonderfully vulnerable courtship.

Rhys Ifans, soon to be seen in The Boat That Rocked, plays Greenberg’s friend Ivan. The supporting cast includes Mark Duplass (of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival success Humpday), Brie Larson (of the hit series United States of Tara), and Juno Temple (of Focus’ award-winning Atonement); Ms. Leigh will also costar in the film.

Mr. Rudin produced Mr. Baumbach’s most recent film as writer/director, Margot at the Wedding, which earned Ms. Leigh a Spirit Award nomination for her performance. The latter feature’s director of photography Harris Savides reteams with Mr. Baumbach on the new film; the costume designer is Mark Bridges (There Will Be Blood). Focus senior vice president, production Kahli Small is overseeing filming of the new movie for president of production John Lyons.

Mr. Schamus said, “It’s a privilege and a pleasure to finally be making a movie with Scott, Jennifer and Noah, and one that will showcase Ben as an actor. This script has the hallmarks of Noah’s best work, and then some; heart and soul interlaced with biting wit. Filmgoers worldwide will find themselves emotionally engaged by and with these splendidly realized characters.”
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Focus Features and Focus Features International (FFI) (www.filminfocus.com) together comprise a singular global company, dedicated to producing, acquiring, financing, selling, and distributing original and daring films from emerging and established filmmakers – films that challenge mainstream moviegoers to embrace and enjoy voices and visions from around the world. The company’s flexible and nuanced approach to distribution allows it to support a wide range of films, from those geared to a single local market to worldwide hits. The company operates as Focus Features domestically, and as Focus Features International overseas.

Domestically, the Focus Features slate includes Cary Joji Fukunaga’s epic dramatic thriller Sin Nombre, winner of 2 awards at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival; writer/director Jim Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control, starring Isaach De Bankolé; Away We Go, directed by Academy Award winner Sam Mendes and starring John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph; Shane Acker’s animated fantasy epic 9, starring Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly and produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov; Academy Award-winning writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man; and Taking Woodstock, the new film from Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee.

Focus Features and Focus Features International are part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.

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SHIRT, SUIT AND TIE WORN BY SEAN PENN AS HARVEY MILK IN BEST PICTURE ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE MILK TO BE AUCTIONED OFF BY CLOTHES OFF OUR BACK FOUNDATION;  PROCEEDS TO EQUALLY BENEFIT VARIETY – THE CHILDREN’S CHARITY AND THE HETRICK-MARTIN INSTITUTE, HOME OF THE HARVEY MILK HIGH SCHOOL

LOS ANGELES, February 6th, 2009 – Commemorating both a memorable movie moment and an inspiring real-life triumph, one of the shirt/suit/tie ensembles worn by Sean Penn as Harvey Milk in Focus Features’ Milk will be auctioned off to benefit both Variety – The Children’s Charity of Southern California and the Hetrick-Martin Institute, home of the Harvey Milk High School, in New York City. The Clothes Off Our Back Foundation will host the online auction of costume designer Danny Glicker’s specially created ensemble as seen in Gus Van Sant’s Milk, which is nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Costume Design. Focus CEO James Schamus made the announcement today.

The auction begins today at the Foundation’s site www.clothesoffourback.org and ends Saturday, February 28th. Bidding will start at $1,000. Proceeds from the auction will be divided equally, with 50% going to Variety and 50% going to the Hetrick-Martin Institute. The auction is for the shirt, suit and tie which Mr. Glicker and his department crafted to precisely match and re-create the ensemble worn by Mr. Milk on November 7th, 1978, the Election Night on which he celebrated the statewide defeat of Proposition 6, which sought to ban gays from teaching in California public schools and to remove known homosexuals and their supporters from their posts, and which Mr. Milk had fought so tirelessly against on in the “No on 6” campaign.

The Clothes Off Our Back Foundation last year successfully hosted the online auction of Keira Knightley’s iconic green dress from Focus’ Atonement, the proceeds from which benefited Variety. In 2006, Focus also successfully auctioned off for charity two shirts memorably showcased in Brokeback Mountain.

Mr. Schamus said, “Harvey Milk’s civil rights legacy remains essential, and Sean’s performance and Gus’ movie have resonated so strongly in their own right with moviegoers. We’re pleased to provide a generous bidder the opportunity to own Danny’s ensemble, and proud that Variety and the Harvey Milk School will benefit, honoring Harvey’s own efforts to make a difference for and with future generations.”
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Milk is playing in theaters nationwide and beginning its run overseas. Harvey Milk, elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, became the first openly gay man to be voted into major public office in America. His victory was not just a victory for gay rights; he forged coalitions across the political spectrum. From senior citizens to union workers, Harvey Milk changed the very nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights and became, before his untimely death in 1978, a hero for all Americans.

In Los Angeles, a display of Mr. Glicker’s work on Milk at the ArcLight Cinemas is open to the public and will remain on view until the end of the month. In addition to Best Picture, and Best Costume Design, Milk’s other Academy Award nominations are in the categories of Best Director (Mr. Van Sant), Best Actor (Mr. Penn), Best Supporting Actor (Josh Brolin), Best Original Screenplay (Dustin Lance Black), Best Film Editing (Elliot Graham), and Best Original Score (Danny Elfman).

Each year, the entertainment and fashion communities come together for The Clothes Off Our Back Foundation, a 501c3 organization that hosts charity auctions showcasing today’s hottest celebrity attire. Items are put up for bid to the public with proceeds going to benefit children’s charities. Clothes Off Our Back was founded by actors and philanthropists Jane Kaczmarek (Malcolm in the Middle, Raising the Bar) and Bradley Whitford (The West Wing, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) whose efforts, along with their celebrity and designer friends, have helped improve the lives of children across the globe. In addition to the Milk ensemble, Clothes Off Our Back is also currently auctioning celebrity clothing and accessories from the winter awards shows, designer red dresses created for The Heart Truth celebrity fashion show, and more.

Variety – The Children’s Charity of Southern California (www.varietysocal.org) is the local chapter of an expansive global network, Variety International – The Children’s Charity, that assists afflicted children in 14 nations who have nowhere else to turn. Since 1927, worldwide, Variety has raised over $1.5 billion to aid children with special needs. The Southern California chapter (Tent 25) was founded in 1941 as a nonprofit organization with the express mission to provide life-saving and life-enriching assistance to kids with special needs. In its 67 years of existence, the SoCal chapter has raised more than $60 million to help thousands of children. Variety prides itself on being able to modify its agenda in order to meet new trends and evolving conditions – addressing each case in a timely, impartial manner. Long considered the “Heart of Show Business,” Variety today continues its work with the help and support of caring men and women in the entertainment industry.

The Hetrick-Martin Institute (www.hmi.org), home of the Harvey Milk High School, is the largest and oldest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (LGBTQ) youth-service provider supporting New York City’s most vulnerable and at-risk community. Hetrick-Martin provides a safe environment with year-round free services that are designed to place these young people in a nurturing environment, instill in them a strong sense of belonging, and provide them with the skills necessary to become thriving citizens in their community and obtain opportunities of a lifetime. Hetrick-Martin
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believes all young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential. Hetrick-Martin creates this environment for LGBTQ youth between the ages of 12 and 21 and their families. Through a comprehensive package of direct services and referrals, Hetrick-Martin seeks to foster healthy youth development. Hetrick-Martin’s staff promotes excellence in the delivery of youth services and uses its expertise to create innovative programs that other organizations may use as models.

Focus Features and Focus Features International (www.filminfocus.com) together comprise a singular global company, dedicated to making original and daring films that challenge the mainstream to embrace and enjoy voices and visions from around the world. The company operates as Focus Features domestically, and as Focus Features International (FFI) overseas.

Domestically, the Focus Features slate includes Milk; from LAIKA Entertainment, Henry Selick’s 3-D stop-motion animated feature Coraline, starring Dakota Fanning and Teri Hatcher; Cary Joji Fukunaga’s epic dramatic thriller Sin Nombre, winner of 2 awards at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival; writer/director Jim Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control, starring Isaach De Bankolé; Away We Go, directed by Academy Award winner Sam Mendes and starring John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph; Shane Acker’s animated fantasy epic 9, starring Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly; Academy Award-winning writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man; and Taking Woodstock, the new film from Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee.

Focus Features and Focus Features International are part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.

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NEW YORK, January 12th, 2009 – Focus Features CEO James Schamus today announced the company’s domestic theatrical release slate for calendar year 2009, confirming several dates for the seven titles total.

Mr. Schamus said, “The 2009 releases from Focus represent the most diverse lineup in the company’s history. In addition to unveiling highly anticipated new films from directors with whom we have already had great success, such as Ang Lee, Jim Jarmusch and Joel and Ethan Coen, the complete slate covers a diverse range of genres including animation.”

Coraline

The latter is represented by the company’s nationwide release on February 6th of LAIKA Entertainment’s Coraline, marking Focus’ first-ever animated movie. It is a stop-motion animated feature – and, as the first one to be conceived and photographed in stereoscopic 3-D, unlike anything moviegoers have ever experienced before. Combining the visionary imaginations of two premier fantasists, director/screenwriter Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas) and author Neil Gaiman (Sandman), Coraline is a wondrous and thrilling, fun and suspenseful adventure. The (voice) cast includes Dakota Fanning (in the title role), Teri Hatcher (in a dual role), Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Keith David, John Hodgman, Robert Bailey Jr., and Ian McShane. Coraline will open in 3-D-equipped theaters nationally and will also simultaneously open in non-3-D-equipped theaters nationwide.

Sin Nombre

Writer/director Cary Joji Fukunaga’s epic dramatic thriller Sin Nombre world-premieres in the dramatic competition at this month’s Sundance Film Festival, and will subsequently open in select cities on March 20th. The filmmaker’s firsthand experiences with Central American immigrants seeking the promise of the U.S. form the basis of the Spanish-language movie. The film stars Paulina Gaitan, Edgar Flores, Kristyan Ferrer, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Diana García, Luis Fernando Peña, and Héctor Jiménez.

Independent filmmaker Jim Jarmusch’s new film, The Limits of Control, is the story of a mysterious loner (Isaach. De Bankolé), a stranger, whose activities remain meticulously outside the law. He is in the process of completing a job, yet he trusts no one, and his objectives are not initially divulged. The film is set in the striking and varied landscapes of contemporary Spain (both urban and otherwise). Joining Mr. De Bankolé in the cast for the writer/director are Hiam Abbass, Gael García Bernal, Paz De La Huerta, Alex Descas, John Hurt, Youki Kudoh, Bill Murray, Jean-François Stévenin, Tilda Swinton, and Luis Tosar. Co-financed by Focus with Entertainment Farm, The Limits of Control will be released in exclusive engagements on May 22nd.

Opening on June 5th in limited release is Away We Go, a contemporary comedy directed by Academy Award winner Sam Mendes from an original screenplay by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. The movie follows the journey of an expectant couple (John Krasinski of The Office and Maya Rudolph of Saturday Night Live), as they travel the U.S. in search of a place to put down roots and raise a family. Rounding out the cast are Jeff Daniels, Carmen Ejogo, Jim Gaffigan, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Josh Hamilton, Allison Janney, Melanie Lynskey, Chris Messina, Catherine O’Hara, and Paul Schneider. Away We Go is produced and co-financed with Focus by Big Beach.

Taking Woodstock, the new film from Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee, is a 1969-set true story about a man, Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin), who inadvertently played a pivotal role in making the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival into the famed happening it was. Mr. Tiber found himself swept up in a generation-defining experience that would change his life, and American culture, forever. Based on the book by Mr. Tiber with Tom Monte, the screenplay adaptation is by Mr. Schamus. The cast also includes Emile Hirsch, Imelda Staunton, Henry Goodman, Jonathan Groff, Mamie Gummer, Eugene Levy, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Liev Schreiber. Taking Woodstock opens in select cities on August 14th.

9

Student Academy Award winner Shane Acker directs the animated fantasy epic 9, a feature-length expansion of his short film of the same name. Produced by Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov, and Jim Lemley, the surreal tale takes place in a world parallel to our own, a post-apocalyptic fantasy in which a band of courageous rag dolls battles for the survival of civilization. The voice cast includes Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau, Christopher Plummer, and John C. Reilly; the screenplay is by Pamela Pettler. 9 will be released in exclusive engagements on September 9th – appropriately marking its release date as 9/9/09.

Academy Award-winning writer/directors Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man is the story of an ordinary man’s search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and F-Troop is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith (Sari Lennick) that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous colleagues, Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed), who seems to her a more substantial person than the feckless Larry. Larry’s unemployable brother Arthur (Richard Kind) is sleeping on the couch, his son Danny (Aaron Wolf) is a discipline problem and a shirker at Hebrew school, and his daughter Sarah (Jessica McManus) is filching money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job. While his wife and Sy Ableman blithely make new domestic arrangements, and his brother becomes more and more of a burden, an anonymous hostile letter-writer is trying to sabotage Larry’s chances for tenure at the university.

A Serious Man

Also, a graduate student seems to be trying to bribe him for a passing grade while at the same time threatening to sue him for defamation. Plus, the beautiful woman next door torments him by sunbathing nude. Struggling for equilibrium, Larry seeks advice from three different rabbis. Can anyone help him cope with his afflictions and become a righteous person – a mensch – a serious man? Filmed on location in Minnesota for Focus and Working Title Films, A Serious Man will open in limited release on October 2nd.

Focus Features (www.filminfocus.com) exists to produce, acquire and distribute original and daring films that challenge the mainstream to embrace and enjoy voices and visions from around the world that deliver global commercial success.

Focus Features is part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.

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