Amplify Picks Up Musical GOD HELP THE GIRL for U.S.

Amplify, the new all-rights distribution company formed in a merger between Variance Films and GoDigital, has acquired U.S. rights to Stuart Murdoch's musical, God Help The Girl. Amplify will release the film across the US early this fall, with a home video release to follow.

Written, directed, and featuring all original songs by Belle & Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch, and produced by Barry Mendel (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums), God Help The Girl stars Emily Browning, Olly Alexander, and Hannah Murray as three friends joined together by music and its possibilities over a summer in Glasgow.

Premiering at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it received a "World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for the Delightful Ensemble Performance, and How the Director Brought His Own Unique Universe into Cinema," the film has received several additional (and shorter) accolades in numerous "best of the fest" round-ups, including Rolling Stone, Esquire, The Dissolve, Paste, The Wall Street Journal, and The Los Angeles Times.

The film will open the Generations section of the 64th Berlinale this weekend and will continue its festival run at the South by Southwest Film Festival this March.

"As someone who honestly believes that a single great pop song can save the world, imagine my delight that a perfectly-crafted musical filled with them will be one of our first releases," said Amplify's Dylan Marchetti. "Stuart and his team have crafted something truly magical here, and it doesn't matter whether you've been hoarding Belle & Sebastian EPs since 1998 (I have) or not: if you like music, musicals, or films, God Help The Girl is going to make you very happy- it's as simple as that."

"I like these guys! I don't know much about the movie business yet, but Amplify seems pretty rock'n'roll," said writer/director Murdoch. "I know music has changed a lot recently; film is changing too. These guys get that. I'm glad we're with them!"

Added producer Barry Mendel, "We asked around about the people at Amplify and got all thumbs up, including from one of my heroes, Spike Lee. We're honored to be one of the first films out from them, it feels somehow momentous."

God Help The Girl was co-produced by Carole Singer of Singer Films, executive produced by Chris Curling and Phil Robertson of Zephyr Films, and backed by Creative Scotland and 1,334 incredibly lovely Kickstarter backers (godhelpthegirl.com/mentions). The deal was orchestrated by Thorsten Schumacher of HanWay Films on behalf of the filmmakers and Marchetti, Kent Sanderson, and Logan Mulvey on behalf of Amplify.

OFFICIAL SITE: godhelpthegirl.com

ABOUT AMPLIFY
Amplify is a bi-coastal all-rights distribution company that aims to bring the best in global independent film to theaters and beyond. Formed in 2014 from a merger of innovative theatrical distributor Variance Films (Sound City, Red Hook Summer, Go For Sisters) and leading digital distributor GoDigital, Amplify uses cutting edge marketing and distribution techniques with a focus on working directly with filmmakers to craft hand-tailored release campaigns for each film. Led by an executive team comprised of GoDigital's Logan Mulvey, Variance Films' Dylan Marchetti, and former Focus Features executive Kent Sanderson, Amplify is financed by Preferred Ventures, the digital media VC fund launched by FreeCreditReport.com founder and former Experian Interactive CEO Ed Ojdana with former Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly. Internet entrepreneur Charles Chase sits on the Amplify board alongside Ojdana and Kelly, with Ojdana serving as its Chairman.

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