“A Secret Love,” from CDAS client Blumhouse, Rated 100% on Rotten Tomatoes

Blumhouse’s bittersweet documentary “A Secret Love” premiered today on Netflix to rave reviews. Simon Pulman represented Blumhouse in its deal with the filmmakers, Briana Hill was involved in the film’s financing, and Calvin Mohammadi and Simon represented Blumhouse in its deal with Netflix. Watch the trailer here.

Congratulations to filmmaker Kristine Stolakis whose documentary “Pray Away” received an excellent Tribeca Film Festival review. Simon Pulman and Calvin Mohammadi represented Blumhouse in its deal to finance the project.

Pray Away exposes the damage caused by the religious right’s so-called reparative therapy programs that claim to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity as told in personal stories of defectors from these programs. Read the review here.

“I Promise” Documentary Series Debuts on Quibi in April 2020

Shown in 8-minute segments, “I Promise” documents the first year of the I Promise School that LeBron James opened in his hometown of Akron, Ohio in an effort to close the achievement gap by creating a new model of urban public education. Executive produced by James and CDAS client Marc Levin, among others, “I Promise”

The New Documentary Market: Four Tips to Prepare

One thing is clear from Sundance 2020: the current market for documentary and quality unscripted projects is extremely strong. Among several eye-catching deals, the $10m paid by Apple to acquire the documentary “Boys State” matched the sum paid by Netflix to acquire “Knock Down the House” in 2019. Concurrently, premium cable outlets and SVOD platforms

Lessons From Sundance 2020: Festival Trends and Predictions

Amid concerns over a weak market and the impact of streamers on the independent film industry, the 2020 Sundance Film Festival closed with the exhibition of several highly anticipated films, some record-breaking sales and the upsurge of important new deal makers. See below for some key trends that emerged from this year’s festival. Slower Initial