Quendrith Johnson

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent

Deadline broke the intial news in January about a new boutique, one-stop shop from The Film Arcade for lower budget independent films; now the news is official about The Film Arcade Carousel. Its mission is to serve small indies under $2 M USD with a suite of services to give your project traction out in the world. Read on...

Los Angeles, CA: Independent film distribution company, The Film Arcade, announced earlier this year that a new distribution arm called The Film Arcade Carousel and will be headed by distinguished producer Lindsay Lanzillotta, specifics were announced today by The Film Arcade’s CEO Miranda Bailey.

The new company will serve as a boutique aggregator for small budget indie films under the $2 million range and act as a one-stop shop to handle distribution, marketing, and advertising for these films that will release via digital platforms. In addition, the company will focus on under-represented filmmakers, artists, and stories. The Film Arcade Carousel will work directly with filmmakers to provide and service different distribution/marketing packages based on the filmmaker’s needs and budget. This unique model will give filmmakers access to a platform for their films to be seen in the marketplace and in some cases, if desired, a small theatrical run. Carousel will service its independent filmmakers through existing service deals. Sample of past service deals TFA has handled include GOAT (starring Nick Jonas), AN EVENING WITH BEVERLY LUFF LINN (starring Aubrey Plaza) and LOVE ROSIE (starring Lily Collins and Sam Claflin).

“As a film maker myself, I wanted to start a specialized arm of The Film Arcade to offer opportunities for the myriad of overlooked, original projects that are left out of Hollywood’s mainstream traditional model of indie film distribution. The Film Arcade Carousel will work hand in hand with filmmakers giving them the creative control so often lacking when one just sells their film. We want their films to be seen and will assure that the creators are part of that process,” stated Bailey back in January.

Lindsay Lanzillotta is an independent producer with a track record of supporting filmmakers and discovering new talent. Her keen sense of premier filmmaking has shepherded such films as Lee Toland Krieger’s THE VICIOUS KIND starring Adam Scott, JK Simmons, and Brittany Snow, and Executive Produced by Neil LaBute. The film was an Official Selection of the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for two Film Independent Spirit Awards; Karyn Kusama’s return to independent filmmaking with THE INVITATION which premiered as the opening night midnight selection of the SXSW Film Festival to critical acclaim and was distributed by Drafthouse and Netflix; the Samuel Goldwyn film noir OBSESSION with Elika Portnoy and director Goran Dukic; the dramatic pilot DELIVERY GIRL, which premiered at Sundance 2019; and her current production of the thriller feature EMERGENT with director Marcel Sarmiento.

“It is our hope that filmmakers will feel comfortable that we can provide experienced guidance of their distribution service options and to have a financially conscious outcome for their film while maintaining a level of control.  We hope to make filmmakers aware and engage in early conversations of how to plan for this as part of the process of filmmaking,” said Lanzillotta.

The Film Arcade established itself as an independent distributor handling the release of hit indie films such as JAMES WHITE and Independent Spirit Award nominees DON’T THINK TWICE, directed by Mike Birbiglia and AFTERNOON DELIGHT directed by Jill Solloway.  In the last year, it released FAMILY, starring Taylor Schilling and BEING FRANK, starring Jim Gaffigan.

This is THE FILM ARCADE

The company handles all the marketing, publicity, social media, distribution and media buying for its theatrical releases, and has a home entertainment distribution deal with Universal Pictures.  The company previously released Mike Birbiglia's sophomore film DON'T THINK TWICE, which has grossed over $4M at the U.S. box office.  In 2019 The Film Arcade released FAMILY and BEING FRANK, two comedies that were acquired at SXSW.

Get your film out there, start here.

:)

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