Los Angeles, California, February 8, 2019 — Guy Nattiv’s Oscar-nominated short film Skin has been acquired by Fox Searchlight Pictures. The acquisition was announced today by Fox Searchlight Pictures’ Chairmen Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula and EVP, Global Acquisition & Co-Prod, TCF Acquisitions Ray Strache. “We’re thrilled to work with Guy Nattiv on his brilliant short film Skin. It has a powerful message with excellent direction and acting,” said Gilula and Utley. Said Nattiv: “I’m incredibly grateful that Skin, a little short film that I made after moving to America from Israel, and literally shot in my own garage, is getting a wide audience through Fox Searchlight. The filmmaking team wanted to shine a light on racism and the cycle of violence, and hopefully start a conversation about how to end discrimination and hate.
Written by Nattiv and Sharon Maymon, the film tells the story of a young boy who has an innocent encounter with a black man at a supermarket and his parents react to the exchange with racial violence. The two families find themselves in a clash with shocking consequences. The film stars Danielle Macdonald (Patti Cake$, Dumplin’), Jonathan Tucker, Jackson Robert Scott, Lonnie Chavis and Ashley Thomas.
Produced by Jaime Ray Newman, Andrew Carlberg, Tim Harms and Guy Nattiv, Skin was executive produced by Matt Luber, Joanna Plafsky, Stephen Mao, Jessica Sherman, Peter Sobiloff, Celine Rattray and Trudie Styler. New Native Pictures produced the film in association with Studio Mao.
The deal was negotiated on behalf of the filmmakers by Celine Rattray (Maven Pictures), ICM Partners and Salaud Morisset which is also handling the international sales for the title. Nattiv is represented by ICM Partners and Luber Roklin and ADD Agency (Israel). Newman is represented by ICM Partners and The Burstein Company.
Skin will be available on Fox Searchlight social media channels.
The Oscars 2019 air live Sunday, February 24 at 8e|5p on ABC.
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 human rights 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 SKIN (Jamie Bell), THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER (Maggie Gyllenhaal), 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 Guy Nattiv’s Oscar nominated (Best Live Action Short) film SKIN, 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 with Maven Pictures and Steel Mill Pictures. Studio Mao also collaborated with Maven Pictures on the Netflix acquired The Kindergarten Teacher (Maggie Gyllenhaal) that won Best Director at the Sundance Film Festival, Wilding (Bel Powley, Liv Tyler), American Honey (Shia La Beouf, Riley Keoug, Sasha Lane), Freak Show (Alex Lawther, AnnaSophia Robb, Abigail Breslin, Laverne Cox, Bette Midler), Girl Most Likely (Kristen Wiig, Darren Criss), Ten Thousand Saints (Ethan Hawke, Hailee Steinfeld, Asa Butterfield). Studio Mao is responsible for arranging distribution of the docudrama The Man Who Saved the World (Stanislav Petrov, Kevin Costner, Sergey Shnyryov, Nataliya Vdovina) in Russia/CIS on theatrical and digital platforms.
Films have premiered at major festivals including the Cannes Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), , Berlinale in Berlin, and the Sundance Film festival. Films have been sold at festival to major distributors for worldwide theatrical release.
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
Contact:
Steve Kent
asst@studiomao.com
+1 (212) 961-6882
