SUNDANCE: Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions has acquired international rights and The Orchard has picked up North America on Joe Swanberg’s drama. In separate deals, Ten Thousand Saints and Fresh Dressed also sold.

Digging For Fire stars Jake Johnson, Rosemarie DeWitt, Orlando Bloom, Brie Larson, Sam Rockwell, Anna Kendrick and Mike Birbiglia. 

Swanberg co-wrote with Jake Johnson and produced with Alicia Van Couvering and Johnson.

The story follows a married couple who head off on separate adventures after they discover a bone and a gun.

  • Screen Media Films has acquired US rights to Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini’s comedy-drama Ten Thousand Saints starring Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Emily Mortimer, Julianne Nicholson, Emile Hirsch and Ethan Hawke. Screen Media Films will release in late summer via day-and-date theatrical and VOD after brokering the deal with CAA.
  • Samuel Goldwyn Films and StyleHaul have acquired North American rights to Sacha Jenkins’ documentary Fresh Dressed, about the evolution of hip-hop culture. The companies plan a 2015 release with an exclusive transactional window on Vimeo On Demand during the theatrical run. CNN Films and Mass Appeal and StyleHaul produced and CNN and Submarine represented the film-makers in the deal.
  • The five film-makers selected from 1,387 submissions in the inaugural Sundance Institute Short Film Challenge supported by the Melinda Gates Foundation have been announced. The initiative is designed to spark global conversation about solutions to challenges like extreme hunger and poverty. The five are: 175 (India) by Bharat Mirle; A Will Of Iron (Nigeria) by Seyi Fabunmi and Mobolaji Adeolu; Dropping In (South Africa) by Willem Van Den Heever; Isabelle’s Garden (US) by Jeffrey Palmer; and Man In The Maze (US) by Phil Buccellato and Jesse Ash. The Tongal.com platform powered the call to entries.

Topics