THINKFilm in the 'BLACK'

THINKFilm in the 'BLACK'

NEW YORK, May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- THINKFilm has acquired all worldwide rights to OFF THE BLACK, the highly acclaimed drama starring Nick Nolte and Trevor Morgan, and written and directed by James Ponsoldt, it was announced by the company's Theatrical Head Mark Urman. The film, which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, will be theatrically released in the US in November, and THINKFilm will be inaugurating international sales at Cannes starting next week.

OFF THE BLACK is a coming-of-age story of teenager Dave Tibbel (Morgan) who copes with his own distant father (Timothy Hutton) by forming an unlikely friendship with a disheveled, irascible high school umpire, Ray Cooke (Nolte). As they grow more dependent on each other, Ray asks Dave to go to his 40th high school reunion and pretend to be his son, a benevolent act of deception that winds up opening unexpected dimensions in the two men.

About the acquisition, Ponsoldt says, "I am very pleased to have THINKFilm handle my film. After meeting with Mark Urman, I knew I had found the company to bring my film to the widest possible audience." Urman adds, "James is a wonderful, classical storyteller, and he has shown equal strength with a veteran like Nick and a newer performer like Trevor, both of whom are absolutely marvelous in the film."

OFF THE BLACK, which also stars Oscar-winner Timothy Hutton and Oscar-nominee Sally Kirkland, is produced by Scott Macaulay and Robin O'Hara of Forensic Films, executive produced by Bob Hariri, Meg Mortimer, Maggie Meade and Steve Kalafer, with cinematography by Tim Orr, editing by Sabine Hoffman and costume design by Caroline Duncan, and musical composition by Claire Campbell, Brian Petway and Alex Neville.

The deal was negotiated by Daniel Katz, THINKFilm Vice President of Acquisitions, and Richard Rapkowski, THINKFilm VP of Business & Legal Affairs, with Andrew Herwitz, president of the Film Sales Company and Victoria Cook of Frankfult, Kurnit, Klein and Selz, on behalf of the producers.

To download a photo from the film, please go to http://www.thinkfilmcompany.com/pr/offtheblack/

THINKFilm

THINKFilm is a privately held production distribution company now in its fourth year of operation, boasting four Academy Award nominations in as many years, and a win with BORN INTO BROTHELS in 2005; the company's most recent production, MURDERBALL, was recently Oscar-nominated for Best Documentary feature. Upcoming releases include the Gael Garcia Bernal/William Hurt thriller, THE KING, on May 19; the Amy Sedaris/Stephen Colbert/Paul Dinello comedy, STRANGERS WITH CANDY, on June 28; the highly acclaimed Ryan Gosling drama, HALF NELSON, on August 11; and the Heath Ledger/Abbie Cornish drama CANDY in October. For more information, please visit www.thinkfilmcompany.com.

Contact:
Alex Klenert, THINKFilm, (212) 444-7900, aklenert@thinkfilmcompany.com
Tom Piechura, The Dart Group, (212) 277-7555, tompiechura@thedartgroup.net

Source: THINKFilm

CONTACT: Alex Klenert of THINKFilm, +1-212-444-7900,
aklenert@thinkfilmcompany.com; or Tom Piechura of The Dart Group,
+1-212-277-7555, tompiechura@thedartgroup.net, for THINKFilm

Web site: http://www.thinkfilmcompany.com/pr/offtheblack

Web site: http://www.thinkfilmcompany.com/

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