Gravitas Ventures has secured worldwide rights to Folk Hero & Funny Guy, from first-time feature Writer/Director Jeff Grace. The film premiered at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, earning rave reviews and a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Alex Karpovsky (“Girls”), Wyatt Russell (22 Jump Street), Meredith Hagner (“Search Party”), Melanie Lynskey (“Togetherness”), Hannah Simone (“New Girl”), Heather Morris (“Glee”), Michael Ian Black (“Another Period”) and David Cross (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”) star in this charming comedy about a successful singer-songwriter who hatches a plan to help his friend’s struggling comedy career and broken love life by hiring him as his opening act on his solo tour.
Folk Hero and Funny Guy will premiere in theaters and on demand on May 12.
Paul (Karpovsky) and Jason (Russell) are old friends who have drifted apart as they’ve reached their 30s. Jason is a good-looking and free spirited singer-songwriter whose career is taking off while Paul is a struggling stand-up comedian whose once promising trajectory is now in decline. The pair reunites when Jason passes through town and a night of drinking leads to Jason offering Paul the opportunity to be the opening act for his upcoming solo tour. What Paul doesn’t know is that Jason has booked the tour in order to win back the heart of an old flame and Jason hopes that having Paul on his “last hurrah of singledom” will resuscitate both his friend’s comedy career and love life mojo.
Filmmaker Jeff Grace shared: “I couldn’t be more excited to have my debut film as a writer/ director be released in theaters this May. Nolan Gallagher, Laura Florence and the rest of the Gravitas team really impressed us with their pitch to market the film as counter-programming to the big summer blockbusters. I think there is a good chance Folk Hero & Funny Guy will be the first film to unseat Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 from the number one box office spot this summer.”
“It was impossible to resist the witty and memorable characters in Folk Hero & Funny Guy,” said Nolan Gallagher, Founder and CEO of Gravitas Ventures. “It’s a laugh-out-loud bromance that we know will resonate with audiences near and far.”
Writer/Director Jeff Grace (It’s A Disaster) combined tales of his own stand-up touring experience with that of the film’s composer Adam Erza to create Folk Hero & Funny Guy. Grace also produced with Ryland Aldrich (L.A. Times). Executive Producers are Vinny Chhibber, John Davenport, Dom Genest, Tom Hamilton, Mike C. Manning, Katherine Ann McGregor, Micki Purcell, Tripp Rhame and Tom Simpson.
The deal was negotiated by Nolan Gallagher for Gravitas Ventures and by UTA Independent Film Group on behalf of the filmmakers.