America
US studio picks up Indian-American brother-sister team's romantic comedy
By
By Arun Kumar Washington, April 9
Alchemy, an American movie
studio, has acquired all North American rights to a new true-life
romantic comedy “Meet the Patels†made by an Indian-American
brother-sister team in the US.
Directed by the sibling team of
Geeta V. Patel and Ravi V. Patel and produced by Janet Eckholm and Geeta
V. Patel, “Meet the Patels†will receive a theatrical release in the US
later this year.
It “is a hilarious and universal story about
family, cultural identity and the search for loveâ€, said Alchemy CEO
Bill Lee announcing the acquisition of rights in Los Angeles on
Wednesday.
“We're thrilled to collaborate with the Patel family
to help this gem cross over to the wide audience it deserves. It's a
true crowd-pleaser, and we expect tremendous word of mouth.â€
"Festival
screenings had been selling out with lines around the block, and we
couldn't keep up with the demand,†added Geeta and Ravi Patel.
“Thanks to UTA and Alchemy, 'Meet the Patels' will hit theatres across the country this year. This is going to be fun!"
“Meet
the Patels†premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival where it won the
Audience Award and went on to win that same award at Hot Docs and
Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival where it also won the Best
Film Award.
The laugh-out-loud, true-life romantic comedy centres
on the romantically inexperienced, first generation Indian-American
Ravi Patel, who's suddenly thrown into the deep end of the dating pool
when he reluctantly consents to letting his parents find him a soulmate
through traditional cultural means.
The acquisition follows the
recent rebrand of Millennium Entertainment as Alchemy, a name that
embodies the company's goals of uniting storytellers and their audiences
in one dynamic community.
Independent Television Service (ITVS)
co-produced and co-financed the project. ITVS is known for supporting
films that enrich the cultural landscape with the voices and visions in
communities seldom heard through mainstream media.
Additional
funding for the film was provided by Impact Partners, Centre for Asian
American Media, Tribeca Film Institute, Whitewater Films, Hartley Film
Foundation and Chicken & Egg Pictures.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])