SPWAG, E1 Entertainment in step with Inner City's dance film Beat The World

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group (SPWAG) has acquired all US rights and E1 Entertainment has taken UK, Canadian and Scandinavian rights to Inner City Films’ Beat The World.

The dance film blends Hip-Hop and Parkour and features such artists as The Flying Steps and The Pink Ladies in the story of dance troupes who face off in a high-stakes dance contest in Detroit.

The cast includes Tyrone Brown, Mishael Morgan, Sho-Tyme, Chase Armitage, Lil’ Steph, Christian Loclair, Shane Pollard, Kristy Flores, Nikki Grant and Lil’ C, among others.

“We are very excited to work with our old friends Benedict Carver and Rob Adetuyi on this great project,” SPWAG’s vice-president of production and acquisitions Scott Shooman said.

“We are thrilled to support the team that has brought together these rising talents,” E1 Films Canada co-president Bryan Gliserman said. “The film is sure to entertain audiences in Canada and worldwide.”

“I wanted to create a brand new kind of dance film,” writer-director Robert Adetuyi added. “By blending Parkour and hip-hop, Beat The World takes the genre to a whole new level and gives audiences something that they’ve never seen before.”

Inner City Films and Telefilm Canada financed Beat The World, with gap financing provided by Montreal-based FIDEC. Amos Adetuy, co-founder of Toronto and Los Angeles-based Inner City Films, is producing, and Benedict Carver serves as executive producer.

Diamond Pictures is handling international sales. Carver negotiated the SPWAG deal with Sony’s Dan Primozic. The film was shot primarily in Toronto, and also on location in Berlin, Germany and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.