Los Angeles, California, April 28, 2021 — Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions has acquired global rights to Maven Screen Media’s A Mouthful of Air based on Amy Koppelman’s novel of the same name. Koppelman also wrote and directed the movie starring Mank Oscar nominee Amanda Seyfried, American Horror Story‘s Finn Wittrock, Amy Irving, Paul Giamatti, Jennifer Carpenter, Britt Robertson, Josh Hamilton, Michael Gaston, Darren Goldstein and Alysia Reiner.
Seyfried plays Julie Davis — warm, kind, loving to her husband and child — who writes bestselling children’s books about unlocking your fears. But she has yet to unlock the dark secret that has haunted her own life. When her second child is born, that trauma is brought to the fore, and with it, a crushing battle to survive.
“Amanda Seyfried and I hope that — in some small way — Julie’s story will help remove the stigma of mental illness from motherhood or at the very least help women talk more openly about how scary it is to be a mom. We are so grateful to everyone who helped bring this meaningful story to the screen,” said Koppelman.
The movie mirrors Studio Mao’s key initiatives of supporting women in film, highlighting underrepresented causes such as postpartum depression. Maven Screen Media produced the movie in association with Studio Mao with Stephen Mao co-producing. Studio Mao also executive produced the movie’s closing song Pure Imagination sung by Ruth B.
Amanda Seyfried recently received both Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for her portrayal as Marion Davies in David Fincher’s critically acclaimed Netflix movie, Mank. Seyfried will star as Elizabeth Holmes in Hulu’s The Dropout. Her feature credits include Les Miserables, Mamma Mia, Mean Girls and Dear John.
Koppelman is represented by Cinetic. Amanda Seyfried is repped by Innovative, Relevant and Frankfurt Kurnit Klein. Wittrock is represented by CAA, Weissenbach Management, Relevant, and Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham. Irving is repped by Rugolo Entertainment and TalentWorks. Giamatti is repped by UTA and Kipperman Management. Carpenter is repped by WME, Untitled Entertainment and Jackoway Tyerman. Robertson is repped by Innovative Artists. Hamilton is repped by Innovative Artists and MGMT Entertainment. Gaston is repped by APA and Principal Entertainment LA. Goldstein is repped by Cornerstone Talent Agency & Suskin Management. Reiner is repped by A3 Artists Agency, Authentic Talent and Literary Management.
About Maven Screen Media
Maven Screen Media is a London, U.K. 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 (Golden Globe for The Kids Are All Right) focus on innovative storytelling with premiere talent. Together, they work to produce high quality independent films and working with top tier filmmakers.
Rattray and Styler recently rebranded the ten-year-old film and TV company Maven Pictures to Maven Screen Media as the company looks to focus more on UK film projects, TV and digital content. The company, whose credits include Academy Award winning Skin, the remake of Sundance best director The Kindergarten Teacher and Cannes jury prize winner American Honey, is aiming to increase its work with female content creators and on female-centered stories, which has already been a priority for the firm.
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
studiomao.com
+1 (212) 961-6882
