By Ryan Parsons | Image property of respective holders.
The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company (TWC) has signed a first look deal with Underground Films and has bought Rising Son, a comedy pitch by Martin Sweeney that was based off an idea by William Lowery, vice president of production for Underground. Underground Films’ Nick Osborne and Trevor Engelson will serve as producers with Lowery serving as executive producer on the project. The announcement was made today by Michael Cole, co-president of production for The Weinstein Company and Nick Osborne from Underground Films.
Weinstein Signs First Look with Underground Films
In Rising Son a young American surprises his Japanese-American girlfriend Sandy by proposing to her on a plane ride to visit her estranged family. He is faced with a number of unusual contests and challenges that he must win in order to convince Sandy’s father that he is worthy of his daughter’s hand in marriage.
Michael Cole stated, “We are very excited about our deal with Underground who has presented us with some incredibly funny and original material that we think will appeal to a broad audience.”
Nick Osborne stated, “Working with Michael and Carla has been a fantastic experience and when they approached Trevor and I about coming on board it was a no brainer. The enthusiasm at The Weinstein Company is infectious and they want to make the exact kind of movies we are passionate about. When Will dreamt up the idea for Rising Son we knew that Martin was the perfect writer to execute it and what Martin came up with hit that bullseye of being both hilarious and heartfelt."
Carla Gardini, senior vice president of production, and Michael Cole will be overseeing the projects on behalf of TWC.
Michael Cole, Eric Roth, executive vice president of business and legal affairs, and Bradley Buchanan, vice president of business and legal affairs, negotiated the deal on behalf of TWC. David Feldman at Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal La Violette LLP negotiated for Underground Films (Osborne and Engelson).
Underground recently finished filming the Warner Brothers comedy License to Wed, starring Robin Williams, Mandy Moore & John Krasinski, with Ken Kwapis directing, which they produced alongside Phoenix Pictures and The Robert Simonds Co.
They further have a diverse set of projects set up including Stepmonster at Warner Brothers, with Phil Traill attached to direct, WISHWORKS at Universal, COMA at Rogue, with Victor Garcia attached to direct, Venus Kincaid at Fox 2000, with Darren Grant attached to direct, and Soccer Mom at New Line.
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