Relativity nets North American, UK rights to Catfish

Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity has acquired US, Canadian and UK rights to Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman’s acclaimed Sundance documentary Catfish in a deal brokered by CAA

Sources said the parties concluded the deal following an all-night session. It is understood Brett Ratner championed the film and played a big role in Relativity acquiring rights. Rogue will release later in the year through Universal.

Catfish was an immediate favourite among buyers as soon as it premiered in Park City on January 22 and follows a 24-year-old New York photographer who has a cyber-romance with a musician and model and sets out to meet the real person. A couple of other studios including Paramount were also in the running.

Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling produced and Kavanaugh, Tucker Tooley and Brett Ratner will serve as executive producers.

“We’re so proud to bring Catfish under the Rogue banner,” Kavanaugh said. “This is a movie that is both entertaining, profound and speaks directly to the evolving nature of relationships in a world dominated by social media.”

“Catfish is a film that could never have been made even just a few years ago. It is a product of our generation, of miniature flip cameras, ‘sexting’, and social networking,” Jarecki said. “Rogue Pictures has the attitude, irreverence, and wide distribution to get this film seen by the masses.”

Meanwhile UTA was fielding heavy interest last night for David Michod’s Animal Kingdom, Drake Doremus’ Douchebag and Jake Scott’s Welcome To The Rileys, while WME Global was getting close to a domestic deal on Teenage Paparazzo.

Also in play were Amir Bar-Lev’s popular documentary I’m Pat Tillman, which CAA is co-representing with Submarine’s Josh Braun, who also expects to close a deal any day now on Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg’s Joan Rivers: A Piece Of Work.

Earlier on Wednesday Wolfe Releasing picked up North American rights from Shoreline to Javier Fuentes-Leon’s Peru-set gay romance Undertow (Contracorriente).