Sundance Channel Acquires Television Rights to Oscar(R)-Winning Short Ryan

Sundance Channel Acquires Television Rights to Oscar(R)-Winning Short Ryan

NEW YORK, March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Sundance Channel has acquired the pay television rights to the Oscar winning film Ryan directed by Chris Landreth. The film won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Short Film (Animated) and will premiere on Sundance Channel third quarter 2005.

Ryan, directed by Chris Landreth, is based on the life of Canadian animator Ryan Larkin. Thirty years ago, at the National Film Board of Canada, Larkin produced some of the most influential animated films of his time. Today, he lives on welfare and panhandles for spare change in downtown Montreal. Landreth's film explores Larkin's evolution from artistic genius to poverty.

In Ryan, the voices of Ryan Larkin and the people who have known him speak through strange, twisted, broken and disembodied 3D generated characters, whose appearances are bizarre, humorous or disturbing. Although incredibly realistic and detailed, Ryan was created and animated without the use of live action footage, rotoscoping or motion capture; instead it was derived from an original, personal, hand animated three-dimensional world which Landreth calls 'psychological realism.'

Ryan is produced by Steven Hoban and Mark Smith (Copper Heart Entertainment) and Marcy Page (National Film Board of Canada), in association with Seneca College Animation Arts Centre, with the participation of the Canada Council for the Arts.

Ryan will screen at the upcoming New Directors/New Films film festival at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in April, 2005.

The deal was negotiated by Christian Vesper, Vice President Acquisitions, Sundance Channel and Christina Rogers of the National Film Board of Canada on behalf of the film.

Under the creative direction of Robert Redford, Sundance Channel brings television viewers daring and engaging feature films, shorts, documentaries, world cinema and animation, shown uncut and with no commercials. Through its original programs, Sundance Channel connects viewers with filmmakers, the creative process, and the world of independent film. Launched in 1996, Sundance Channel is a venture between NBC Universal, Robert Redford, and Showtime Networks Inc. Sundance Channel operates independently of the non-profit Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival, but shares the overall Sundance mission of supporting independent artists and providing them with wider opportunities to present their work to audiences.

Copper Heart Entertainment is one of Canada's most diverse independent production companies, run by one of Canada's most prolific producers, Steven Hoban. It is devoted to making independent, commercially accessible features and large format (i.e. Imax(R)) films, as well as television productions. Copper Heart Entertainment also continues to produce highly innovative and leading-edge animation projects.

Now in its 65th year, the National Film Board of Canada has produced more than 10,000 films and won more than 4,500 awards, including 11 Oscars(R). As Canada's public film producer, the NFB produces and distributes distinctive, culturally diverse, challenging and relevant audiovisual works that provide Canada and the world with a unique Canadian perspective. For more information on the NFB visit http://www.nfb.ca/.

Source: Sundance Channel

CONTACT: Sarah Eaton, +1-212-654-1613, sarah.eaton@sundancechannel.com, or Katie Lanegran, +1-212-654-3398, katie.lanegran@sundancechannel.com, both of Sundance Channel

Web site: http://www.sundancechannel.com/ http://www.nfb.ca/

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