Freestyle Digital Media, the recently-acquired Digital Film Distribution of Entertainment Studios, announced today that the New York-set mobster farce FRIENDS AND ROMANS will be released on VOD on March 8th, 2016. The film was directed by Christopher Kublan, and stars Michael Rispoli, Annabella Sciorra, Paul Ben-Victor and Katie Stevens. Multiple veterans from HBO's "The Sopranos" round out the cast including Tony Sirico, Anthony DeSando, Tony Darrow, John Bianco, Armen Garo, Donnamarie Recco, and Joe D'Onofrio. The film was written by Kublan, Rispoli and Gregg Greenberg, was produced by Michael Mailer and debuted at numerous film festivals last year including Woodstock, Boston, where it won the Best Picture award, and Napa Valley, where it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. The film also enjoyed a theatrical release through Paladin in November of last year.
Set in a predominantly Italian-American neighborhood in Staten Island, FRIENDS & ROMANS is a classic comedy farce that follows Nick DeMaio (Rispoli), a frustrated actor who is determined to rise above the typecasting that perpetually finds him playing the role of "Mobster Number 3." When he and his thespian friends, most of them perennial extras in gangster movies, stage a production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar to showcase their talents, art intersects life when real mobsters and federal agents mistake them for genuine Italian wise-guys. With the help of his beautiful wife Angela (Sciorra), his daughter Gina (Katie Stevens), and a large ensemble of friends that includes numerous veterans from HBO's hit show The Sopranos, Nick attempts to navigate his way through a host of comic
COMPLICATIONS both on stage and in life to prove he's got the chops.
The deal was brokered by Chris Charalambous on behalf of Freestyle, and by Mark Urman of Paladin on behalf of the filmmakers.
"This funny film and cast reunion of sorts is a treat for fans of The Sopranos, said Mark Borde, Co-President, Freestyle Digital Media, "We're looking forward to bringing it to a wide audience after its success on the festival and limited theatrical circuit."
Recent Freestyle titles include the UK hit NORTHERN SOUL, which screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, the hit horror-comedy ZOMBEAVERS, Cinderella tale AFTER THE BALL starring Portia Doubleday and Chris Noth, THE DEVIL'S VIOLINIST starring international superstar violinist David Garret, THREE NIGHT STAND starring Emmanuelle Chriqui, and the teen thriller
THE SISTERHOOD OF NIGHT.
About Freestyle Digital Media:Freestyle Digital Media supplies quality commercial film and TV content directly to all US VOD/SVOD rental DVD/Kiosks and theaters using the latest cloud-based technologies to automate digital workflow. Freestyle Digital Media provides our content audience a positive digital viewing experience on every device everywhere. Website:
www.freestyledigitalmedia.tv
About Entertainment Studios Entertainment Studios, Inc. owns seven 24-hour HD cable networks: PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, and JUSTICE CENTRAL.TV. The company also produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 40 television programs, making it one of the largest independent producers/distributors of first-run
Syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations. With a library of over 5,000 hours of owned content across multiple genres, Entertainment Studios provides video content to broadcast television stations, cable television networks, mobile devices, multimedia platforms, and the World Wide Web. Our mission is to provide excellent programming to our viewers, online users, and Fortune 500 advertising partners. Chairman and CEO Byron Allen founded the company in 1993. Headquartered in Los Angeles, it has offices in New York, Chicago, Denver, and Raleigh. For more information, visit:
www.es.tv
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