INDIANAPOLIS – Nationlight Productions, the production company focused on creating inspiring, meaningful content for mainstream audiences of all backgrounds and affiliations, announced the festival release of its two projects featuring big stars and positive stories.
“These new projects conform with our mandate of making films that make a difference,” said filmmaker Marc Erlbaum, the founder of Nationlight Productions. “Our mantra is that a little bit of light can dispel a world of darkness, and we believe these films will be welcomed by audiences who are anxious for more life-affirming fare.”
Nationlight Productions’ film Café, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jamie Kennedy, was written, and directed by Erlbaum, and produced by Erlbaum, Christ Wyatt and Sean Covel (Napolean Dynamite). The film tracks a week in the life of a group of West Philadelphia residents whose lives revolve around a hip local coffee shop. Their stories intertwine as they deal with life’s challenges and struggle to get things right. In two weeks, Café will have U.S. premieres simultaneously at the 19th Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis (screening 7 times between October 15 and 23) and the Philadelphia Film Festival in the “Greater Filmadelphia” strand (Oct. 16 & 21). The filmmaker was already notified that Café will receive the Crystal Heart Award at The Heartland Fest, following in the footsteps of a variety of successful theatrically-released motion pictures that artistically express redemptive themes.
Nationlight Productions executive produced Everything Must Go, starring Will Ferrell, which just had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Ferrell plays a down on his luck everyman who falls into the bottle and has to hit the bottom before he can climb his way back out. The film, produced by Temple Hill (the "Twilight" movies) was purchased by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions, reportedly the largest domestic sale at the Toronto festival this month.
Nationlight Productions is also building an online community on Facebook (www.facebook.com/nationlightproductions ) for viewers who are interested in films that inspire and uplift. Attracting members for both its mission and its behind-the-scenes access to the filmmaking process, Nationlight will engage the community in every aspect of its future projects from inception through actualization.
“We are building a community of people who share our desire for more positive stories,” said Erlbaum. He points to the box office success of “The Blind Side” in 2009 as a testament to the existence of a tremendous audience for wholesome, uplifting films that appeal across denominational lines. The company’s funding comes from philanthropists outside of the movie industry who realize the reach of popular media and its ability to impact an enormous audience and infuse universal values of hope, charity and brotherhood.
Nationlight Productions is led by its founder Erlbaum. The company is represented by William Morris Endeavor and its advisers include industry veterans Craig Emanuel, Michael Helfant, Doug Mankoff, and Randy Manis.
