Virgil Films & Entertainment Will Release Acclaimed Documentary on Digital and VOD platforms
Autlook Acquires World Broadcast Rights
Passion River Will Distribute Public Screening and Education DVD Package
Toronto, Canada – October 29, 2014 – The production team behind CYBER-SENIORS today announced new distribution agreements to bring the critically acclaimed documentary directed by Saffron Cassaday to broadcast, digital and institution/education platforms. Virgil Films & Entertainment has acquired North American digital rights, with Autlook acquiring international broadcast rights. Passion River Films will distribute the Public Screening and Education DVD package worldwide.
Virgil Films & Entertainment President and CEO Joseph Amodei, Autlook CEO Peter Jager and Passion River Films Senior Director of Sales and Acquisitions Mathew Levy negotiated their respective deals with Brenda Rusnak negotiating on behalf of CYBER-SENIORS. The film completed successful theatrical runs in the United States via distributor Area 23a and in Canada via Best Part Productions earlier this year.
The directorial debut of Saffron Cassaday, CYBER-SENIORS is a humorous and heartwarming feature documentary adding to the important international conversation about the growing generation gap. Focusing on a group of senior citizens who take their first steps into cyber-space under the tutelage of teenage mentors, the film expertly renders a thought-provoking look at a spirited group of men and women who are enriched by digitally re-connecting with their families and each other. Finding their footing rather quickly, the group moves on to compete for the most YouTube views while swiftly building their online inventory of friends.
“When we started on this journey, we suspected that this subtle, sweet story could have a big loud impact,” commented CYBER-SENIORS producer Brenda Rusnak. “Now that we are seeing the Cyber Senior model working in dozens of communities and have had a strong theatrical run in the U.S. and Canada, we are happy to collaborate with our partners to bring this story to more audiences via traditional and non-traditional distribution,” she concluded.
CYBER-SENIORS director Saffron Cassaday commented, “After working as an actress for many years, I was searching for a compelling subject for my directorial debut. Observing the Cyber Senior program in action, I found the program and its participants were rife with drama, pathos and humor. Editing over 120 hours of footage into a feature length film was challenging, but I am so pleased with how the storyline took shape and with the critical and popular response.”
CYBER-SENIORS will be available on digital and Video On Demand platforms in late 2014 or early 2015.
For more information on CYBER-SENIORS, please visit: http://cyberseniorsdocumentary.com/
“Cyber-Seniors hits you in the feels….the talent that it took to balance all of these factors and to put forth a film so beautiful and meaningful is incredibly impressive. Saffron Cassaday is one to watch.” – Cat Edison, Screen Invasion
About Virgil
Virgil Films & Entertainment, formerly Arts Alliance America, was founded in 2003 as Hart Sharp Video by Joe Amodei to develop, acquire, market and distribute movies in the theatrical film, documentary, special interest and sports categories. The company has built partnerships with such high-profile entertainment brands as The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), Sundance Channel Home Entertainment, National Geographic Cinema Ventures, ESPN, MLB Productions, Bombo Sports and Entertainment and Morgan Spurlock’s Warrior Poets, among others.
About Autlook
AUTLOOK is a full-service sales agent, handling festivals, TV-, theatrical, educational, DVD- and digital sales worldwide.
We select around 25 TV-documentaries a year and up to six docs with worldwide theatrical potential.
AUTLOOK attends all important theatrical markets (Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, Pusan, Locarno, Sundance, Hong Kong, Rotterdam, etc.) and all Doc markets (IDFA, Hot Docs, Sheffield, Leipzig, Visions du Réel, MIPTV, MIPCOM etc.).
About Passion River
Since 1998, Passion River Films has been devoted to acquiring, distributing and representing unique independent films and documentaries. Our award winning and festival favorite features have made their home on shelves of various notable film libraries and institutions. Our deep catalog represents films on nearly every topic including Multicultural Studies, Women’s Studies, Medical Studies and Advances, Religious and Spiritual studies, Environmentalism, Aging, Drug Addiction, Gay/Lesbian/Transgender, etc.
Press Contacts:
Murphy PR (US)
John Murphy / Russ Posternak
jmurphy@murphypr.com / rposternak@murphypr.com
212-414-0408