EXCLUSIVE: Freestyle Digital Media, the digital movie distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, has acquired North American VOD rights to the dramatic function movie Ready For The Gentle To Change — the 2023 Slamdance Movie Competition ‘Grand Jury Prize’ winner for ‘Finest Narrative Function.
Ready For The Gentle To Change premiered on the Heartland Worldwide Movie Competition in Indianapolis in October 2022, screened on the Chicago Critics Movie Competition in Could 2023, and simply had its West Coast premiere in Los Angeles at Dances With Movies on June 28, 2023. Freestyle Digital Media is planning a fall 2023 launch date.
Ready For The Gentle To Change takes place over the course of a week-long beachside getaway. Set over a number of days in and round a lake home in Michigan, the movie follows 5 twenty-somethings who collect for a small getaway within the early spring. However with little to do within the small, lakeside city, everybody finds themselves coping with the form of malaise that occurs in a single’s early-to-mid twenties: rising older, establishing a profession, discovering a goal in life, going over previous regrets, and anxious about what the longer term may maintain.
Directed by feminine director Linh Tran, Ready For The Gentle To Change was co-written by Lihn Tran, Jewells Santos, and Delia Van Praag. Producers are Jake Rotger, Jewells Santos, and Sam Straley. James Choi served as government producer. The movie’s solid consists of Sam Straley (‘Jay’), who appeared within the Hulu collection The Dropout and as a collection common on The Youngsters Are Alright (ABC) and Welcome To Flatch (Fox). Actors Eric Barrientos (‘Alex’), Qun Chi (‘Lin’), Joyce Ha (‘Kim’), and Jin Park (‘Amy’) spherical out the solid.
The acquisition of Ready For The Gentle To Change kicks off Freestyle Digital Media’s first-look with DePaul College’s Faculty of Cinematic Arts and its Indie Studio Initiative – which produces DePaul scholar function movies. Launched in 2018 by Assistant Professor James Choi, this system helps student-directed and produced micro-feature movies by financing and in-kind providers. This consists of steerage by all points of the filmmaking course of, reminiscent of screenwriting, directing, and enhancing, with college students totally proudly owning the finished initiatives, offering a novel alternative for the subsequent era of filmmakers to develop each creatively and professionally. Dedicated to range and inclusion, 49 p.c of the scholars establish as non-white, 52 p.c male, 47 p.c feminine with $2 million devoted to Faculty of Cinematic Arts scholarship and assistantships funding.
“DePaul’s Indie Studio Initiative showcases the filmmakers of tomorrow,” stated Invoice Vergos, Head of Digital Movie Distribution for Freestyle Digital Media. “We at Freestyle have partnered with this unique program because rising talent such as Linh Tran and her team deserve an opportunity for their hard work and creativity to be seen on as many platforms as possible.”
“Freestyle Digital Media is making significant strides to actively foster the genuine exploration of true discovery in the world of cinema by supporting the upcoming generation of filmmakers emerging out of this digital revolution,” stated DePaul College Assistant Professor James Choi. “We are extremely excited as we embark on this journey alongside Freestyle, beginning with the anticipated release of Waiting For The Light To Change this fall and potential collaborations on future films coming out of Indie Studio.”
