Listen Up Philip Sundance Film Still - H 2014
Tribeca Film has acquired North American rights to Alex Ross Perry‘s dark comedy Listen Up Philip, starring Jason Schwartzman and Elisabeth Moss.
The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it drew critical raves. Jonathan Pryce, Krysten Ritter, Josephine de La Baume, Dree Hemingway and Jess Weixler round out the cast.
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Written by Perry, Listen Up Philip is described as a literary look at the triumph of reality over the human spirit. Anger rages in Philip (Schwartzman) as he awaits the publication of his sure-to-succeed second novel. He feels pushed out of his adopted home city by the constant crowds and noise, a deteriorating relationship with his photographer girlfriend, Ashley (Moss), and his indifference to promoting his own work. When Philip’s idol, Ike Zimmerman (Pryce), offers his isolated summer home as a refuge, he finally gets the peace and quiet to focus on his favorite subject: himself.
Listen Up Philip, which was shot on 16mm film by cinematographer Sean Price Williams, played to enthusiastic reviews when it premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Tribeca will it theatrically Oct. 17, with video-on-demand platforms following on Oct. 21.
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“Driven by a superbly acidic performance by Jason Schwartzman and equally fuelled by its allusions to and by inspiration from Philip Roth, director-writer Alex Ross Perry’s Listen Up Philip is a revelation by a uniquely gifted filmmaker,” Tribeca Enterprises chief creative officer Geoff Gilmore said.
Added Perry (The Color Wheel): “Life isn’t full of easy answers or situations where things are wrapped up in a neat little package, and I set out to make a film that reflects this. That scared some people. Tribeca Film has proven themselves fearless by partnering with us for the release of Listen Up Philip. In this day and age, distribution for independent films is a real broken system, probably worse than it has ever been. So it is incredibly exciting to be working with people who actually care not only about ‘movies’ and ‘stories’ but about honest-to-god cinema — I mean serious cinema that leaves audiences heavier. They’ve put their support behind me and this film, and they believe in it in a way that I hope will allow Listen Up Philip to be seen by as many people as possible.”
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Listen Up Philip is produced by Katie Stern and Joshua Blum at Washington Square Films and Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston and David Lowery at Sailor Bear.
The deal was negotiated for Tribeca Film by Nick Savva. John Sloss of Cinetic Media repped the filmmakers.
Email: Tatiana.Siegel@THR.com
Twitter: @TatianaSiegel27
