Sundance

High profile Slamdance premiere results in competitive deal-making for theatrical release

Main Street Films announced today the acquisition of Joe Manganiello’s La Bare.  Manganiello’s production company 3:59 Inc., run by brother Nick Manganiello, produced the crowd-pleasing documentary.  The Magic Mike star’s directorial debut gives an insider’s look at the history, the lives and the culture of the most popular male strip club in the world, La Bare Dallas.

The movie premiered Sunday night as one of the most high-profile films in Slamdance history.  The appetite was strong and tickets were hard to come by for the sold-out, raucous premiere, which was attended by the La Bare dancers featured in the documentary, and followed by a Q&A with Elvis Mitchell after the screening.  Slamdance’s President and Co-Founder, Peter Baxter, had this to say about the screening, “During programming, we knew the audience would go wild for La Bare and they certainly did!”

Main Street Films’ Chairman, Craig Chang, and President, Harrison Kordestani, were amongst those in attendance, and after seeing the audience reaction to the film, made their opening offer in the lobby of the Treasure Mountain Inn less than five minutes after the credits rolled.  The deal is mid-six figures for North American and Chinese rights and said to include a theatrical guaranty and commitment for a minimum 20-market US release to take place in Summer 2014. 

“Our mantra is ‘engaging entertainment’ and that’s across all genres,” said Harrison Kordestani, President of Main Street Films. “From indie, action, romance, drama, comedy, and now documentary…Main Street Films is committed to creating a diverse universe of films that have a unique voice and vision.  We are really impressed with what Joe has produced and are excited to partner with him on distributing La Bare in North America.”

“I was immediately impressed by Main Street's excitement, vision, resources and character,” said the pic’s director Joe Manganiello.  “I got that sense in my gut right away that this was the right company to help launch 3:59's flagship film La Bare, as well as form a strong partnership for future projects.”

World-renowned DJ, Zach “Z-Trip” Sciacca, composed the music for the film, enhancing the project with an additional layer of emotional depth and hipness, and played the packed after-party where multiple distributors were trying to find time to discuss a deal with the Executive Producers and film reps, Shaun Redick and Ray Mansfield, of Movie Package Company.

Pic adds another dimension to an already over-achieving career for Manganiello, who can count television star (True Blood, How I Met Your Mother), film star (upcoming Sabotage, Magic Mike, Raimi’s Spider-Man series), and successful author (Evolution with Gallery Books, a Simon & Schuster company) amongst his career accomplishments to date.  Now add film auteur.   

The deal was negotiated by Harrison Kordestani on behalf of Main Street Films and by Executive Producers Shaun Redick and Ray Mansfield of Movie Package Company.

About 3:59

Brothers Joe and Nick Manganiello launched 3:59 Inc. in 2012, focusing on the production and development of film, television and new media properties.  The feature-length documentary, La Bare, marks the company’s first project and the directorial debut for Joe, known to audiences for his roles as "Big Dick Richie" in Steven Soderbergh's male stripper phenomenon Magic Mike and as werewolf "Alcide Herveaux," on HBO's True Blood.  Nick’s entertainment industry experience includes positions with the Grammy’s, William Morris Agency, current programming at CBS, and film production/finance company Intrepid Pictures.  With a diverse and rich slate in development, 3:59's mission is to deliver smart and commercial content across multiple platforms.

About Main Street Films

Established in 2007, Main Street Films is an independent entertainment company and has emerged as one of the industry's most exciting film finance, development, acquisition, production, distribution, VOD and home entertainment driven ensembles.  On the distribution side, Main Street Films focuses on creating and distributing high quality films across multiple genres for diverse audiences within the global entertainment space.  Main Street Films releases the college comedy “Bank$tas” on April 18th and coming soon is “John Doe: Vigilante,” a crime thriller starring “Battlestar Galactica’s” Jamie Bamber on March 21st.  http://www.mainstreetfilms.net/

On the production side Main Street Films, along with RKO pictures, recently wrapped on the action comedy “Barely Lethal,” starring Oscar® nominee Hailee Steinfeld, Jessica Alba, Sophie Turner, and Oscar® nominee Samuel L. Jackson.  “Barely Lethal” is slated for a September 2014 release.

About Movie Package Company

Shaun Redick and Ray Mansfield, managing partners of Movie Package Company, LLC, combine for 25 years of professional, entertainment industry experience and executive deal-making while working for some of the most elite Hollywood corporations including William Morris, International Creative Management, 3 Arts Entertainment and The Collective. MPC recently announced the new thriller Blood Mountain, directed by Sergei Bodrov (The Seventh Son, Mongol), which is set for a 2014 production in Morocco, as well as John Moore’s next action thriller true story, The Englishman. Redick and Mansfield’s recent credits include multiple Academy-Award® nominee, The Messenger, starring Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster, Steve Buscemi and Samantha Morton; Tucker Max’s #1 New York Times bestselling book adapted into the hit comedy I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell; and Powder Blue starring Forrest Whitaker, Jessica Biel, Eddie Redmayne, Patrick Swayze and Ray Liotta. Their newest, action revenge thriller In the Blood, starring Gina Carano, Danny Trejo and Stephen Lang will hit theaters this April.

About Slamdance 

The 2014 Slamdance Film Festival will run concurrently with the Sundance Film Festival, January 17-23, 2014 in Park City, Utah. Slamdance continues to serve as a showcase for the discovery and development of emerging independent talent and unique cinematic visions. Slamdance is the only festival programmed entirely by filmmakers. With over half of 2013's feature films having found distribution after premiering in Park City, Slamdance continues to be a fertile ground for new filmmakers to begin their careers.

Notable Slamdance alumni who first gained notice at the festival include: Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises), Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity), Marc Forster (World War Z), Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), Lena Dunham (Girls), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Anthony & Joe Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) and Lynn Shelton (Humpday).

The organization supports its alumni beyond the festival, by increasing exhibition opportunities through international and domestic On The Road events and developing commercial distribution through Slamdance Studios. 2013 VOD releases include Daniel Martinico's OK, Good, Rudd Simmons' The First Season, Monteith McCollum's Hybrid, and Eleanor Burke and Ron Eyal's Stranger Things. Slamdance's 2013 On The Road program has traveled to Austin, Detroit, Los Angeles and New York, further supporting award-winning feature films such as Nicole Teeny's Bible Quiz, Matt Johnson's The Dirties and James E. Duff's Hank and Asha, as well as a selection of local short filmmakers.

The 2014 Slamdance Film Festival Sponsors include MixBit, Blackmagic Design, Vimeo, and The Directors Guild of America. Further support is given by Different By Design, Pierce Law Group, InkHead Promotional Products, and Variety. Celebrating our 20th festival season, multimedia platform Gawk, will be the exclusive presenting sponsor of Slamdance TV for the 2014 Festival. Slamdance is once again proud to partner with sponsors who share our unique vision, and support emerging artists who are pushing the boundaries of independent filmmaking.

Slamdance is proud to introduce MixBit and Blackmagic Design as festival award sponsors. The Slamdance Trailer Competition, presented by MixBit, offers all filmmakers accepted into the 2014 festival an opportunity to create their best trailer. Entrants' work will be presented on MixBit.com and the finalists will have their trailers shown during the festival. The winner will be announced during the Awards Ceremony on January 23, 2014. Blackmagic Design will be joining the presentation with their sponsorship of the 2014 Blackmagic Design Cinematography Award.