Recreation adds three for Cannes

Recreation’s newly appointed managing director Juraj Barabas made the announcement on Friday [26].

Barabas has been a sales executive at the company for 18 months and previously held positions at Intersonic and K2 Studio. Shelly Madison has also joined the company as distribution and operations consultant to support the management team. Both will report to Recreation president and CEO Ariel Veneziano.

James E Duff’s Hank And Asha won Slamdance’s audience award for best narrative feature and is a modern love story about an Indian woman studying in Prague who meets a young New York filmmaker. Newcomers Andrew Pastides and Mahira Kakkar star.

Duff co-wrote the screenplay with Julia Morrison and the pair produced through their Paper Chain Productions.

David Andalman and Marik Munro’s feature directorial debut Milkshake [pictured] is a dark comedy that premiered in the NEXT section in Sundance. Phase 4 holds US rights. Tyler Ross and Shareeka Epps star.

Robert Greenwald’s documentary War On Whistleblowers developed through the filmmaker’s non-profit The Brave New Foundation highlights four cases where whistleblowers highlighted government wrong-doing and violated the US constitution in the aftermath of 9/11. Greenwald and Jim Miller produced.

The film is currently in theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles through Brave New Films. Recreation co-represents the film with The Film Collaborative.

“Juraj is a brilliant young executive who has demonstrated an impressive ability to devise sound strategy and deliver consistent results over time,” said Veneziano. “I am pleased to see him step into a leadership position, as I am preparing to take on additional responsibilities outside of Recreation’s day-to-day operations.”

“I am excited to continue my working relationship with Ariel and look forward to developing further business opportunities for the company and our valued partners,” said Barabas. “These critically acclaimed titles are a great addition to our auteurs label, and we anticipate more acquisitions in different genres as we head into a busy Cannes market.”

Recreation’s Cannes slate also includes the rom-com Married And Cheating starring Brendan Fraser, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kiefer Sutherland and Eva Longoria; Spike Lee’s Red Hook Summer; thriller Once Upon A Time In Brooklyn with Armand Assante, Ice-T, Vincent Pastore and Ja Rule; mythological fantasy Jason And The Necronauts starring Casper Van Dien; horror tale Dark Feed written and directed by the Rasmussen brothers; and Renny Harlin’s war drama 5 Days Of August starring Andy Garcia, Val Kilmer, Rupert Friend, Heather Graham and Entourage’s Emmanuelle Chriqui.