Sundance Channel Acquires Home Video and Exclusive U.S. Pay TV Rights to Childstar

Sundance Channel Acquires Home Video and Exclusive U.S. Pay TV Rights to Childstar

Film Stars Don McKellar, Jennifer Jason Leigh

NEW YORK, May 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Sundance Channel has acquired home video and U.S. pay television rights to the Canadian comedy Childstar. Childstar will be released by Sundance Channel Home Entertainment on DVD and VHS through Hart Sharp Video on August 23rd, 2005. Childstar will make its U.S. television premiere on Sundance Channel in 2006. Co-written, directed by and starring Don McKellar (Last Night, The Red Violin, Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould), Childstar is a film within a film that parodies both the world of child actors and the American big-budget film industry, and stars Jennifer Jason Leigh (Single White Female), and child actor Mark Rendall ("Revelations"; The Winning Season).

Self-interest is the order of the day in this darkly funny comedy about the world's most popular child star and the people who make their living off him. McKellar (eXistenZ) stars as Rick, a would-be auteur who gets a temporary job chauffeuring the 12-year-old actor Taylor Brandon Burns (Rendall) when he comes to Toronto to film a new action/comedy. Soon, Rick is sharing a bed with Taylor's blasé mother Suzanne (Leigh) -- and getting an eye-opening education about the strange life of a precocious, if tyrannical, child star. The film co-stars Dave Foley ("Kids in the Hall"), Michael Murphy ("Tanner 88") and Eric Stoltz (Singles). Geoff Pevere of the Toronto Star calls Childstar "Original and insightful."

Childstar is a Rhombus Media production. It was directed by Don McKellar and written by McKellar and Michael Goldbach, and produced by Niv Fichman, Daniel Iron and Jennifer Jonas.

The deal was negotiated by Christian Vesper, Vice President, Film Programming, on behalf of Sundance Channel, and Sheena Macdonald, on behalf of Rhombus International.

SUNDANCE CHANNEL AND SUNDANCE CHANNEL HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Sundance Channel Home Entertainment is a line of home entertainment products which provides a platform for leading independent films and emerging filmmakers in the video and DVD marketplace. 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 films and home video programming, 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. Sundance Channel's website address is http://www.sundancechannel.com/ .

The website address for Sundance Channel Home Entertainment is http://www.sundancechannelhomeentertainment.com/ .

HART SHARP VIDEO

Hart Sharp Video was founded in 2003 by Joe Amodei to develop, acquire, market and distribute home video and DVD product in the feature film, special interest and sports categories. Some of Hart Sharp Video's releases slated for 2005 include; Yankeeography - Volume Three featuring baseball heroes Joe DiMaggio, Catfish Hunter, Bobby Murcer, Reggie Jackson, Goose Gossage and Jorge Posada; Fangoria presents Gorezone Video ... Skinned Deep featuring one of the most unapologetic of killers and is destined to become a new horror icon and the extraordinary sports documentary The Number 2 Car Collector's Special Edition featuring one of NASCAR's most charismatic individuals, Rusty Wallace. For more information please visit http://www.hartsharpvideo.com/ .

Source: Sundance Channel

CONTACT: Katie Lanegran, Director, Public Relations, Sundance Channel, +1-212-654-3398, katie.lanegran@sundancechannel.com

Web site: http://www.sundancechannel.com/ http://www.sundancechannelhomeentertainment.com/

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