LIGHTNING ENTERTAINMENT TO CANNES BUYERS:
“ASK ME ANYTHING”
Lightning Entertainment Picks up International Sales Rights to Allison Burnett’s “Ask Me Anything,” Starring Britt Robertson, Justin Long, Christian Slater, Martin Sheen, Max Carver and Robert Patrick
Los Angeles, CA – May 6, 2014 – It was announced today that Lightning Entertainment has acquired international sales rights to the drama/thriller ASK ME ANYTHING, starring Britt Robertson (TOMORROWLAND, TV’s UNDER THE DOME, CAKE), Justin Long (LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU), Christian Slater (NYMPHOMANIAC, BROKEN ARROW), Martin Sheen (THE DEPARTED, THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN), Robert Patrick (GAGSTER SQUAD, SAFE HOUSE) and Max Carver (TV’s TEENWOLF, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES). The announcement was made by Lightning Entertainment EVP & General Manager Ken DuBow.
Sexually frank, often heartbreaking, and bursting with devilish humor, ASK ME ANYTHING is a contemporary tale of identity, voyeurism, and deception.
Directed by Allison Burnett (writer of GONE, UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING, UNTRACEABLE), the feature film is adapted from Burnett’s popular book “Undiscovered Gyrl” which follows beautiful, wild, young, and lost, Katie Kampenfelt (Britt Robertson) as she takes a year off before college to discover herself. But Katie intends to do more than just work at the local bookstore and smoke weed with her boyfriend (Max Carver) all year. Instead she plans to seduce Dan (Justin Long), a thirty-two-year-old film professor at the local community college. Drawn into a dangerous new relationship, Katie begins to chronicle her sexual adventures in an anonymous blog, allowing strangers a window into her innermost desires, shames, and secrets. When her alcoholic father (Robert Patrick) suffers a terrible fall and Dan stops taking her calls, Katie’s fearless narrative begins to crack, and dark pieces of her past emerge.
The film is making its market debut in Cannes.
Lightning sales and acquisitions consultant Richard S. Guardian commented, “ASK ME ANYTHING is one of those rare films that is capable of striking a chord with audiences in so many different ways. We were initially drawn to the ingredients that make it so commercially viable – a built-in audience fan base from a book continuing to grow in popularity and a globally recognized cast including a rapidly rising star in Britt Robertson, but were blown away by the film’s desensitized narrative, brought to life by a remarkable cast. We couldn’t be happier to have this film on our slate.”
Joseph Dickstein, SVP of Lighting Entertainment negotiated the deal to handle international sales rights for the film with Traction Media.
The addition of ASK ME ANYTHING to Lightning’s international sales slate comes on the heels of the company acquiring a pair of horror/thrillers — INDIGENOUS and DARK HOUSE, which will also debut in Cannes.
About Lightning Entertainment:
Established in 2001 and based in Beverly Hills, CA, Lightning Entertainment is a leading independent entertainment company specializing in the international sales, licensing, representation, marketing and distribution of premier independent content in all available media. With a strong presence at major international film markets and established relationships with key distributors in global territories, Lightning focuses on monetizing superior films theatrically and in ancillary markets including home entertainment, television, emerging media, and video-on-demand & digital platforms. The company represents one of the largest libraries of high-quality pictures in today’s independent marketplace.
Lightning Entertainment distributes films of every genre in the United States and Canada, boasting a remarkable presence on both in-store and digital shelf space. Their distribution arm reaches all available nationwide home entertainment platforms including (but not limited to) Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Redbox, Netflix, iTunes, Google Play, Hulu, Xbox, Sony Playstation, Amazon, Vudu, and most major video-on-demand cable providers. Lightning Entertainment’s domestic distribution branch features the ability to adaptively generate domestic revenue in a rapidly changing industry.
For more information on Lightning Entertainment, please visit www.lightning-ent.com.
