MPI Media Group acquires ‘YELLING TO THE SKY’
Toronto (September 14, 2011) – MPI Media Group today announced it has acquired all North American rights to YELLING TO THE SKY, an acclaimed new drama starring rising young actress Zoe Kravitz and Academy Award nominee Gabourey Sidibe. A spring 2012 theatrical release is anticipated for the film – the remarkable writing and directing debut of Victoria Mahoney – to be followed by release on DVD and VOD.
YELLING TO THE SKY is a Mahoney/Mulligan production, produced by Victoria Mahoney, Billy Mulligan, Diane Houslin and Ged Dickersin. The distribution deal was negotiated by Greg Newman, Executive Vice President of MPI Media Group, and Josh Braun of sales company Submarine.
MPI’s Greg Newman said, “YELLING TO THE SKY is a daring and original work from a fresh new voice. It’s a real find that we are eager to bring to a wide audience.”
An Official Selection of the 2011 Berlin Film Festival and the SXSW Film Festival, YELLING TO THE SKY centers on Sweetness O’Hara (Zoe Kravitz, X-Men: First Class, It’s Kind of a Funny Story), a 17-year-old New York girl who must fend for herself in a tough neighborhood when her family falls apart. The film was shot on authentic locations in Hollis, Queens, Harlem and Bushwick, Brooklyn. In addition to Kravitz (daughter of musician Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet), it co-stars Gabourey Sidibe (Best Actress nominee for Precious, Tower Heist), Tim Blake Nelson (O Brother, Where Art Thou?), Jason Clarke (Public Enemies, Great Gatsby) and Antonique Smith (Notorious, Abduction).
Writer-director Victoria Mahoney, who began her career as an actress in such films as Blake Edwards’ Switch and the Reese Witherspoon hit Legally Blonde, received the Lynn Auerbach Screenwriting Fellowship and an Annenberg Film Fellowship for YELLING TO THE SKY. Filmmaker magazine named Mahoney one of its “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” calling her movie, “a powerful, emotionally nuanced debut.” Variety said the film “boasts a strong directorial voice. Mahoney was clearly driven by a genuine creative gift.”
About MPI Media Group
The MPI Media Group is a leading producer, distributor and licensor of films, home entertainment, historical footage and more. Founded in 1976, Chicago-based MPI Media Group remains one of the largest independent entertainment companies producing and distributing a compelling slate of the world’s most respected cinema, documentaries, performances and television programs. MPI’s wholly owned subsidiaries include MPI Home Entertainment, Dark Sky Films, and the WPA Film Library. www.mpimediagroup.com
