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Exclusive: Oscar-winning producer John Battsek (One Day In September) is exiting Passion Pictures after a stellar 20-year run to launch La and London-based company Ventureland with Kerstin Emhoff, Ali Brown, and director Paul Hunter of U.S. production and commercials firm Prettybird.

Ventureland will produce a range of content across the documentary and scripted spaces but will also work in branded content, technology, music and original IP.

Battsek and Emhoff have previously teamed up to produce Emmy-winning projects Manhunt: The Inside Story Of The Hunt For Bin Laden and The Tillman Story, as well as The Final Year, Sergio and Legion Of Brothers. The duo have worked together on-and-off for more than a decade and the majority of Passion’s U.S. productions have been based out of Prettybird’s La facilities.

Battsek co-founded Passion Pictures Films in 1999 with Andrew Ruhemann and won the company’s first Oscar with One Day In September,...

With the release from prison today of John Walker Lindh, Showtime Documentary Films announced the two-years-in-production Detainee 001, director Greg Barker’s account of the case.

Barker will draw on “unique access to the world of intelligence and special operations,” Showtime says, with Detainee 001 “piecing together the defining yet almost-forgotten origin story of post-9/11 America.”

“From the battlefield to the courtroom, Barker’s film confronts the unresolved issues at the heart of Lindh’s case, including his role in the uprising that led to the first casualty of the war in Afghanistan, CIA officer Johnny Micheal Spann,” according to Showtime. “Even after nearly 20 years, clarity on justice remains elusive, leaving a nagging open sore at the heart of the American soul.”

The film has been in production since 2017, and is being trumpeted by the premium cable channel as the definitive account of Lindh’s story,...

CNN Films announced Wednesday that it has partnered with director Dawn Porter’s Trilogy Films and actress Erika Alexander’s Color Farm Media to develop a documentary feature that will chronicle the remarkable and expansive life of civil rights icon and Georgia Congressman John Robert Lewis. Porter is directing the currently untitled vérité film which will illustrate how the 79-year-old Lewis’ 60+ years of legendary social activism and legislative action on civil rights, voting rights, gun control, healthcare reform, and immigration, prepped him for the battles he fights today.

The film will incorporate interviews with Lewis, his family, other political leaders, colleagues, as well as a wealth of archival footage, rare and recently-discovered writings from Lewis and people in his intimate circle, to illuminate his past and continued influence on American culture and Congress.

Audiences will learn from Lewis’ extraordinary American story, beginning with his childhood experiences, to his fateful 1957 meeting with Martin Luther King,...

Indie film specialist Gravitas Ventures has launched the streaming service Gravitas Movies with a $4.99 monthly price, Variety has learned exclusively.

The 13-year-old distributor unveiled the Svod service in the U.S. on Tuesday, touting Gravitas Movies as the new streaming service for lovers of independent film, offering a 1,000-title catalog of commercial-free films with new movies added all the time.

Gravitas Movies is available on Comcast’s Xfinity X1, along with Apple TV and iOS devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Android mobile and Android TV devices. Gravitas Movies is also available at gravitasmovies.com. It’s also available for $40 per year.

The sector has seen explosive growth in recent years with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, HBO, CBS All Access, Showtime and YouTube Premium. At the same time, niche-oriented movie services like WarnerMedia’s FilmStruck and Fandor have fallen by the wayside in recent months.

Gravitas Ventures president Michael Murphy...

Horror thriller A Brilliant Monster, which premiered last June at the Dances with Films festival in La, has been acquired by Gravitas Ventures.

The film is slated for limited theatrical and on-demand release in May 2019.

The fifth feature by director F.C. Rabbath is based on his 2015 short Dead Meat. It stars Dennis Friebe, Joy Kigin, Nick Leali, Dina Najjar, Aléa Figueroa and David Raizor. Friebe plays a successful author of inspirational and self-help stories who hides the dark secret that his creative ideas are supplied by a hidden monster that must be kept fed with human flesh. Rabbath, Friebe, Ramsey White, Jessica Roszko and Joshua Ayres are producers. Buzz was positive coming out of Dances with Films, with genre critics saluting the film’s ambitious narrative. A review in Film Threat said Rabbath blends elements of Misery, Little Shop of Horrors and The Neon Demon and praises Friebe, who “carries...

The makers behind 14 Cameras have secured distribution courtesy of Gravitas Ventures. Check out the trailer and official poster that dropped for the film before its released on July 27th.

Press Release: "Gravitas Ventures announces today that they have acquired worldwide rights to the horror-thriller 14 Cameras, directed by Scott Hussion and Seth Fuller. Written by Victor Zarcoff, the film is the highly-anticipated sequel to the critically-acclaimed horror title 13 Cameras (New York Times Critic’s Pick), released by Gravitas Ventures in 2015. The film will be released in theaters and on demand nationwide on July 27th.

14 Cameras stars Neville Archambault (13 Cameras), Amber Midthunder (“Legion”), Chelsea Edmundson (Thunder Road) and Brianne Moncrief (13 Cameras) and was produced by Fuller and Hussion, with Andrew van den Houten (The Ranger), Jordan Rudman (Funeral Kings) and The McManus Bros. (writers of Netflix’s “American Vandal”) executive producing.

When a family of four rent a beautiful house for their summer vacation,...

Exclusive: Jonathan Lynn will direct the romantic comedy.

Emile Hirsch [pictured], Alice Eve and Vanessa Hudgens have joined rom-com The Pre-Nup for My Cousin Vinny and The Whole Nine Yards director Jonathan Lynn.

David Koechner and rising comedy star Sebastian Maniscalco have also come on board to join previously announced Hugh Bonneville.

Content Media president of film Jamie Carmichael and executive vice-president of sales and distribution Jonathan Ford are leading worldwide sales efforts at this week’s European Film Market (Efm).

Production is set for June in the UK on the story of an American investment banker whose womanising father pressures him into suggesting a pre-nuptial agreement to his fiancée on the eve of their wedding.

The alarmed young woman fights back, determined to negotiate ever details of their life together. Lynn wrote the screenplay and Jeanna Polley is the producer.

“Jonathan has packed The Pre-Nup with tons of laughs, romance, and characters...

Katee Sackhoff is no stranger to space. She’s faced otherworldly horrors before in Battlestar Galactica and Riddick, and now she’s setting her sights on Mars in the new sci-fi thriller Origin Unknown.

Press Release: February 2, 2017 – It was revealed today that Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica, Riddick, Oculus, Don’t Knnock Twice) will play the lead role of Mackenzie ‘Mack’ Wilson in the sci-fi thriller Origin Unknown, and that Content Media has come on board to handle worldwide sales.

UK-based Coffee & Cigarettes who act as executive producers on the film brokered the deal with Content Media to represent the film.

Eduardo Panizzo of Coffee & Cigarettes said, “We are delighted to be working with Content Media on this project, they have an exceptional track record and a proven history of success in the Sci-Fi genre.”

Content’s Jamie Carmichael said, “We love the elevated Sci-Fi space, and Origin Unknown has all...

Passion Pictures and CNN Films produced the war documentary and Park City premiere.

Gravitas Ventures picked up all Us rights excluding TV to Greg Barker’s documentary, which premiered on Saturday and screens again on Monday and at the weekend.

Legion Of Brothers tells the story of the elite Special Forces soldiers deployed to Afghanistan immediately after the 911 attacks.

Barker, whose documentary Manhunt premiered in Sundance 2013, gained unprecedented access to Green Berets involved in the mission to fight Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Content Media holds international rights and CNN Films retains rights to broadcast the film on CNN/U.S. and on CNN-branded TV platforms.

John Battsek and Barker of Passion Pictures produced Legion Of Brothers with Peter Bergen and Tresha Mabile. Amy Entelis of CNN Films and Vinnie Malhotra served as executive producers.

Gravitas Ventures negotiated the deal with CNN Films and Cinetic on behalf of the filmmakers.

Gravitas Ventures has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to the documentary “Legion of Brothers,” which premiered Saturday in the Sundance Film Festival’s Documentary Premiers section. The film was directed by Greg Barker (“Manhunt”) and produced by CNN Films and Passion Pictures. CNN retains U.S. broadcast rights.

“Legion of Brothers” centers on the fewer than one hundred Special Forces troops deployed to Afghanistan after 9/11 for a secret war initiated by the U.S. government. The troops fought against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, driving both out of power before the end of 2001, with few casualties despite not having conventional, large-scale military operations. Barker tells the little-known story by drawing on access to several Green Berets who participated in the covert missions.

“Gravitas is honored to collaborate with CNN and Greg Barker to share this powerful, true story of these U.S. Army Special Forces that is just as timely...

In its second Sundance pick-up, the company has acquired international sales rights to Evgeny Afineevsky’s Syrian civil war documentary ahead of Sunday’s world premiere in Sundance.

HBO took Us television rights to Cries From Syria earlier this month and will air the broadcast premiere on March 13.

Content’s president of film Jamie Carmichael and executive vice-president of sales and distribution Jonathan Ford will introduce the documentary to international buyers at the Efm in Berlin next month.

Afineevsky, whose Winter On Fire: Ukraine’s Fight For Freedom earned a documentary feature Oscar nod last year, produced with Den Tolmor and Aaron I. Butler.

David Dinerstein, Daniel Dubiecki, Lara Alameddine, Tomáš Srovnal, Chamsy Sarkis, Bohdan Batruch and Sheila Nevins acting as executive producers.

“It’s understandable why many people struggle to process the tsunami of devastating news coming out of Syria, but Evgeny Afineevsky’s extraordinary film vigorously cuts through the noise, and dramatically...

Content Media Corporation has acquired the international distribution rights to the documentary “Legion of Brothers,” which premieres Saturday, January 21 in the Sundance Film Festival’s Documentary Premiers section. Directed by Greg Barker (“Manhunt”) and produced by CNN Films and Passion Pictures, the doc’s domestic theatrical and streaming rights are still available. CNN retains U.S. broadcast rights.

PBS Expands Theatrical Distribution Team In Time For Sundance 2017 — Exclusive

The film was produced by John Battsek, Barker, Peter Bergen, Tresha Mabile and executive produced by Amy Entelis and Vinnie Malhotra,

“Legion of Brothers” centers on the fewer than one hundred Special Forces troops deployed to Afghanistan after 9/11 for a secret war initiated by the U.S. government. The troops fought against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, driving both out of power before the end of 2001, with few casualties despite not having conventional, large-scale military operations. Barker tells the little-known story by drawing...

The company has struck a deal with CNN Films to handle international sales ahead of the world premiere of Greg Barker’s documentary on Saturday.

CNN Films and Passion Pictures produced Legion Of Brothers, about the small deployment of Special Forces troops sent to Afghanistan immediately after the September 11 attacks to thwart the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

CNN retains Us broadcast, theatrical and streaming rights.

Content will take the film to the Efm in Berlin next month where president of film Jamie Carmichael and executive vice-president of sales and distribution Jonathan Ford will introduce to international buyers.

Passion’s John Battsek produced Legion Of Brothers with Barker, Peter Bergen and Tresha Mabile, while Amy Entelis and Vinnie Malhotra served as executive producers.

Barker directed Sundance 2013 selection Manhunt.

“We were immediately struck by the emotional power of Greg’s film,” said Carmichael. “We know that there’s a tremendous level of interest in all things ‘special forces’ and this...