ABOUT FILMSWELIKE:
FILMSWELIKE
New distribution company for independent film launches in Canada
Toronto, August 27, 2003 ~ FILMSWELIKE, a new Toronto-based distribution company for independent film in Canada, has been launched by award-winning documentary filmmaker Ron Mann and veteran Toronto film and music promoter Gary Topp.
FILMSWELIKE will distribute primarily feature documentaries, but, as the name suggests, Mann and Topp will be choosing a variety of films with personal appeal for limited runs in theatres across Canada.
The last decade has seen rapid changes in digital technology, which has created a newfound freedom and accessibility for independent filmmakers, both veterans and newcomers alike. This change in accessibility has not been reflected by a change in the distribution model for cinema in Canada.
"There are so many great new movies being made each year that never find an audience. They get screenings at film festivals and then disappear. We want to change that, at least for the films we like." said Ron Mann.
The first film to be picked up by the new company was also the inspiration for its formation. Filmmaker Sam Green called Ron Mann for help after unsuccessfully seeking a Canadian distributor for his film The Weather Underground, co-directed with Bill Siegal. Mann turned to his friend Gary Topp who used to run the legendary repertory theater "The Original 99-cent Roxy", and FILMSWELIKE was born.
The Weather Underground is a feature-length documentary that explores the rise and fall of the radical group The Weather Underground, who waged a low-level war against the U.S. government through much of the 1970s. Actions included bombing the Capitol building, breaking Timothy Leary out of prison, and evading one of the largest FBI manhunts in history. Today - in light of a new age of terrorism - former members as well as their critics look back on the '70s and reflect on what they did and why they did it. Visit http://www.theweatherunderground.com.
The Weather Underground will open at The Bloor Cinema in Toronto on October 22 followed by runs in Vancouver and Montreal.
Ron Mann's new film Go Further features Woody Harrelson and is a Special Presentation at the upcoming 2003 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). This will be Mann's ninth entry into TIFF, including festival favourites Comic Book Confidential (1989), Twist (closing Gala 1991), and Grass (Special Presentation 1999). Grass, narrated by Woody Harrelson, went on to win a Canadian Genie Award for Best Documentary and enjoyed world-wide theatrical distribution.
Veteran promoter Gary Topp ran one of the first repertory theaters in Toronto - The "Original 99-cent Roxy" and later the New Yorker Theater. In the late seventies he and partner Gary Cormier ran The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto where they introduced to North America the then unknown band "The Police". The two later founded the rock club "The Edge" which introduced many other new wave and punk acts. Calling themselves "The Garys", they went on to establish a concert promotion company that became a Toronto institution and became the first music promoters to win a Toronto Arts Award.
FILMSWELIKE
New distribution company for independent film launches in Canada
Toronto, August 27, 2003 ~ FILMSWELIKE, a new Toronto-based distribution company for independent film in Canada, has been launched by award-winning documentary filmmaker Ron Mann and veteran Toronto film and music promoter Gary Topp.
FILMSWELIKE will distribute primarily feature documentaries, but, as the name suggests, Mann and Topp will be choosing a variety of films with personal appeal for limited runs in theatres across Canada.
The last decade has seen rapid changes in digital technology, which has created a newfound freedom and accessibility for independent filmmakers, both veterans and newcomers alike. This change in accessibility has not been reflected by a change in the distribution model for cinema in Canada.
"There are so many great new movies being made each year that never find an audience. They get screenings at film festivals and then disappear. We want to change that, at least for the films we like." said Ron Mann.
The first film to be picked up by the new company was also the inspiration for its formation. Filmmaker Sam Green called Ron Mann for help after unsuccessfully seeking a Canadian distributor for his film The Weather Underground, co-directed with Bill Siegal. Mann turned to his friend Gary Topp who used to run the legendary repertory theater "The Original 99-cent Roxy", and FILMSWELIKE was born.
The Weather Underground is a feature-length documentary that explores the rise and fall of the radical group The Weather Underground, who waged a low-level war against the U.S. government through much of the 1970s. Actions included bombing the Capitol building, breaking Timothy Leary out of prison, and evading one of the largest FBI manhunts in history. Today - in light of a new age of terrorism - former members as well as their critics look back on the '70s and reflect on what they did and why they did it. Visit http://www.theweatherunderground.com.
The Weather Underground will open at The Bloor Cinema in Toronto on October 22 followed by runs in Vancouver and Montreal.
Ron Mann's new film Go Further features Woody Harrelson and is a Special Presentation at the upcoming 2003 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). This will be Mann's ninth entry into TIFF, including festival favourites Comic Book Confidential (1989), Twist (closing Gala 1991), and Grass (Special Presentation 1999). Grass, narrated by Woody Harrelson, went on to win a Canadian Genie Award for Best Documentary and enjoyed world-wide theatrical distribution.
Veteran promoter Gary Topp ran one of the first repertory theaters in Toronto - The "Original 99-cent Roxy" and later the New Yorker Theater. In the late seventies he and partner Gary Cormier ran The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto where they introduced to North America the then unknown band "The Police". The two later founded the rock club "The Edge" which introduced many other new wave and punk acts. Calling themselves "The Garys", they went on to establish a concert promotion company that became a Toronto institution and became the first music promoters to win a Toronto Arts Award.