'Manna From Heaven'

'Manna From Heaven'

Heartwarming Comedy Starring Ensemble of Award-Winning Actors Including Shirley Jones, Cloris Leachman, Louise Fletcher, Wendie Malick, Shelly Duvall and More

Available on DVD From Sony Pictures Home Entertainment July 12

CULVER CITY, Calif., July 12 /PRNewswire/ -- "Manna From Heaven" -- a heartwarming comedic fable about finding hope at any age and featuring an outstanding award-winning ensemble cast -- will have its DVD debut on Tuesday, July 12 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Academy Award(R) winners Shirley Jones, Cloris Leachman, Louise Fletcher, Academy Award nominee Seymour Cassel, Ursula Burton, Shelley Duvall, Jill Eikenberry, Faye Grant, Frank Gorshin, Wendie Malick, Austin Pendleton and three time Tony(R) nominee Harry Groener star.

"Manna From Heaven" will be released with a strong slate of extras including commentary by the filmmakers, bloopers, deleted scenes, trailers, behind the scenes featurette, photo gallery and Q&A with the director, the writer and the producer. DVD is priced at $25.98 SLP.

A witty story of a small neighborhood with real problems, "Manna From Heaven" is an independent film whose theatrical release has somewhat of a "Little Engine that Could" scenario. With a very limited marketing budget, the filmmakers personally conducted grassroots campaigns via their "Manna Van" which made "whistle-stop" tours to a number of key U.S. cities around the country, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Dallas, Atlanta, Cleveland, and San Diego, among others. In each city, the film caught on, generating good reviews, excellent audience word-of-mouth and solid theatrical runs.

The Washington Post said the film delivered "two feel-good hours of old-time family entertainment [and is] a much-needed reprieve from the angst, irony and mean-spiritedness that is endemic to modern cinema." NPR found it "Capra-esque and charming, charming, charming!" Liz Smith, writing in the New York Post said, "And a great little movie it is. Dig this cast: several Oscar(R) winners and nominees and even a Tony citation are in this amazing group. You'll be hearing more about the Burtons!" And The New York Times' Dave Kehr found it "Refreshingly sincere, gentle and good-natured."

The film had a special screening for the United States Congress, with using Congress members Schumer, McCarthy and Reynolds and the MPAA's Jack Valenti the film as a high quality example of why we should increase funding for independent feature filming. "Manna From Heaven" also played successfully all across Canada, after a special Toronto Film Festival screening and then was chosen by the Festival for their theatrical "Circuit" release schedule.

"Manna from Heaven" comes from Five Sisters Productions, a boutique company that makes quality independent films, which has quietly been influencing the face of independent film releasing. Five Sisters Productions is just that: produced by the company's five Burton sisters (Maria, Jennifer, Ursula, Gabrielle C. and Charity) and directed by Maria and Gabrielle C. It was written by their award-winning screenwriter-mother Gabrielle B. Burton and

co-produced by their father Roger Burton, a former jazz musician and music professor. Filming was done in the Burtons' hometown of Buffalo, New York. Five Sisters' Productions' previous films Just Friends and Temps will be released on DVD later this year.

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES: - Commentary with Filmmakers - "Manna from Heaven: Traveling the Indie Road" Featurette - Deleted and Extended Scenes - Bloopers - Photo Gallery - Digitally Mastered Audio and Video - Widescreen Presentation - Audio English (Stereo)

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is a division of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. Sony Pictures Entertainment's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in 67 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com/.

Source: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

CONTACT: Claire Mullaly of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, +1-310-244-4722, Claire_mullaly@spe.sony.com; or Carl Samrock of Carl Samrock Public Relations, +1-818-260-0777, carlsamrock@cs-pr.com, for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

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

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

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

NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, background, photos and articles, visit http://www.fivesistersproductions.com. Artwork is available at www.SPHEPUBLICITY.COM Visit Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on the Web at www.SonyPictures.com

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