Mike Fleming
EXCLUSIVE: The Sundance Film Festival offers keep dropping. Sony Pictures Classics secured worldwide rights to A little prayer, which premiered at the Ray yesterday in the US Dramatic Competition category. The film is directed and scripted by Angus McLachlanwho scripted Junebug.
Tammy (Jane Levy) and her husband David (Will Pullen) live a quiet life in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, sharing a home with David’s parents, Bill (David Strathairn) and Venida (Celia Weston). David and Bill work together and have always been closely involved in each other’s lives. When Bill begins to suspect that David is straying from his marriage, he is drawn into a relationship minefield, caught between wanting to protect his friendly stepdaughter and trying to understand his impulsive son. As Bill grapples with the limits of patriarchal influence, he is also forced to reckon with disheartening patterns of behavior that can transcend generations.
The film is produced by Max A Butler and Lauren Vilchik. WME Independent brokered the deal. It’s the second strong deal today for the agency, which brokered the Apple deal for Flora and Son, directed by John Carney. The fact that it closed so quickly, within 24 hours of its premiere, indicates that the pace of acquisitions is picking up after a slow start to the weekend. There are still plenty of desirable titles and deals to be had.