IM Global Acquires Rights to “Boarding School”

NEW YORK, NY, November 4, 2016 – IM Global is looking to scare up international sales for newly announced horror pic Boarding School from Maven Pictures.

Currently in postproduction, the film stars Will Patton (Remember the Titans, Armageddon), Samantha Mathis (American Psycho, The Punisher), Sterling Jerins (The Conjuring series, World War Z), Luke Prael (Boy in a Backpack), and Tammy Blanchard (The Good Shepard, Blue Jasmine), with Boaz Yakin (Remember the Titans, Safe) directing from his own script.

From audacious filmmaker Boaz Yakin, comes a horrifying fable about an ominous school where undesirable children are committed. When twelve-year-old Jacob Felson’s stepfather catches him dressing in his grandmother’s clothing, Jacob is sent away to a mysterious boarding school run by a peculiar couple, Dr. Sherman (Will Patton) and his dominating wife (Samantha Mathis). The school is attended by six other students, all with physical and mental disabilities. When one of the students is found dead after hanging himself, Jacob begins to suspect something much more sinister is going on. He soon discovers that the Sherman’s are not who they say they are, and the lives of the students depend on escaping from this twisted boarding school from hell.

Maven Pictures co-founders Trudie Styler (Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, American Honey) and Celine Rattray (The Kids Are All Right, American Honey) produce alongside Scott Lochmus (The Joneses, London Town), and Jason Orans (Goodbye Solo, Night Catches Us).

IM Global took international rights to Boarding School in a deal negotiated by its international sales and distribution president Michael Rothstein with Maven’s Nic Marshall. WME is handling domestic sales.

Also on Maven’s upcoming slate is Freak Show, starring Alex Lawther (The Imitation Game, Departure), Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine, Zombieland) and Bette Midler (Beaches, The First Wives Club); thriller Wildling, directed by Fritz Bohm and starring Bel Powley and Liv Tyler; and Novitiate, directed by Maggie Betts and starring Margaret Qualley and Melissa Leo. [Courtesy The Hollywood Reporter]

About Maven Pictures

Maven Pictures is a New York-based film development, production and financing company co-founded by Oscar-nominated producer and veteran film executive Celine Rattray and BAFTA-nominated producer, filmmaker, actress and activist Trudie Styler. Styler, a BAFTA-nominated and BIFA-winning producer (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Moon) and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Rattray (who won a Golden Globe for The Kids Are All Right) focus on innovative storytelling with premiere talent. Together, they work to produce high quality independent films while taking advantage of cultural resources in New York and London and working with top tier filmmakers.

Maven finances development and provides equity for films across a wide range of budgets and for distribution across all platforms. Maven Pictures produced GIRL MOST LIKELY, – directed by Oscar-nominated duo Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (AMERICAN SPLENDOR) and starring Kristen Wiig (star of BRIDESMAIDS, the highest grossing R-rated female comedy ever),, Annette Bening, Darren Criss and Matt Dillon. The film premiered In Toronto and was released by Lionsgate Films. Maven also produced FILTH, starring James McAvoy, Jim Broadbent, and Jamie Bell, recently released in the UK, and becoming the country’s second highest grossing R-rated film of the year. Maven’s also produced, BLACK NATIVITY is a modernized take on Langston Hughes’ classic musical and stars Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Jennifer Hudson, Tyrese Gibson and Mary J Blige. Fox Searchlight released wide. Maven produced TEN THOUSAND SAINTS, an adaptation of the best-selling novel (NY Times Notable Book of 2011, finalist for LA Times’ Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction) by award winning author Eleanor Henderson. The film was directed by Pulcini and Berman, starring Ethan Hawke, Emile Hirsch, Hailee Steinfeld, and Asa Butterfield. TEN THOUSAND SAINTS premiered at Sundance 2015, and was sold to Screen Media. Maven executive produced the UK film MISS YOU ALREADY, directed by award winning Catherine Hardwicke, written by Morwenna Banks, and starring award winning actresses Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette. Lionsgate will release in the fall after it’s premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. Rattray and Styler also executive produced STILL ALICE, directed by award winning duo Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, based on the novel by Lisa Genova, for which Julianne Moore won an Oscar for Best Actress. Maven is in post on Andrea Arnold’s AMERICAN HONEY, starring Shia Labeouf.

About Studio Mao

Studio Mao is a premiere global content management company founded in 2006 with a strong focus on motion picture production, development and distribution. The company produces feature films, including the critically-acclaimed award winning film Filth by the author of Trainspotting Irvine Welsh in which James Mcavoy won Best Actor awards at the Scottish BAFTA’s, British Independent Film Awards, Empire Awards and London Critics Circle Film Awards. The film’s director Jon S. Baird also won the London Critics Circle Breakthrough British Filmmaker award and the film was nominated on multiple occasions for Best Feature Film. Filth was the highest grossing independent film in England in 2013 and was produced in collaboration with industry leaders Maven Pictures (Trudie Styler, Celine Rattray) and Steel Mill Pictures (Ken Marshall). Studio Mao also collaborated with Maven Pictures on Girl Most Likely starring Kristen Wiig and Darren Criss, and Ten Thousand Saints starring Ethan Hawke, Hailee Steinfeld and Asa Butterfield.

The Studio Mao brand is synonymous with high quality, original and bold content that is distributed to markets around the world. The company is actively involved in developing its proprietary HD content management and video streaming platform “STP™” designed to securely deliver content worldwide and on multiple platforms. Subscribers will be able to view Studio Mao movie releases and content utilizing STP™ technology that will further permit an interactive experience with dynamic and live HD feeds.

The company’s open source mantra is “Leave no creative stone unturned”.

For more information about Studio Mao, please visit www.studiomao.com

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