Gkids Aquires North American Rights To Dash Shaw’s “My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea”

Gkids Aquires North American Rights To Dash Shaw’s “My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea”

December 8th, 2016

Jerry Beck

GKIDS, the producer and distributor of award-winning animation for both adult and family audiences, announced that it has acquired the North American distribution rights for the forthcoming animated feature My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea. The 2016 American independent comedy was written and directed by Dash Shaw, celebrated author of such graphic novels as New School, Bottomless Belly Button and the recently-released Cosplayers, in his feature film debut.

The film features the voices of Jason Schwartzman, Lena Dunham, Reggie Watts, Maya Rudolph, Susan Sarandon, Alex Karpovsky and John Cameron Mitchell, and was produced by Electric Chinoland’s Kyle Martin, Craig Zobel and Dash Shaw, in association with Fat Possum Records’ Matthew Johnson, Low Spark Films, and Washington Square Films. The deal was negotiated between Linzee Troubh for Cinetic and Eric Beckman for GKIDS.

The film will be released theatrically in late spring 2017, following a strong audience and critical response at the Toronto International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, AFI Fest and Fantastic Fest, among others.

“When we first saw this audacious genre-bending film, we had grins plastered on our face from start to finish,” said David Jesteadt, GKIDS’ SVP of Distribution. “In a time when it seems like we could all use a laugh, we are proud to play a part in bringing such a unique vision and sweetly funny film to audiences nationwide.”

Of the acquisition, filmmaker Dash Shaw said, “I’m so psyched to join the GKIDS slate alongside all the awesome Studio Ghibli movies and forward-thinking animations! Yes!”

SYNOPSIS
From acclaimed graphic novelist Dash Shaw (New School) comes an audacious debut that is equal parts disaster cinema, high school comedy and blockbuster satire, told through a dream-like mixed media animation style that incorporates drawings, paintings and collage. Dash (Jason Schwartzman) and his best friend Assaf (Reggie Watts) are preparing for another year at Tides High School muckraking on behalf of their widely-distributed but little-read school newspaper, edited by their friend Verti (Maya Rudolph). But just when a blossoming relationship between Assaf and Verti threatens to destroy the boys’ friendship, Dash learns of the administration’s cover-up that puts all the students in danger.

As disaster erupts and the friends race to escape through the roof of the school, they are joined by a popular know-it-all (Lena Dunham) and a lunch lady (Susan Sarandon) who is much more than meets the eye. But even as the film piles on brilliant details like a post-apocalyptic cult formed by jocks, video game homages, and an infectious synth soundtrack, it never loses sight of the characters at the heart of the story. Hailed as “the most original animated film of the year” and “John Hughes for the Adult Swim generation” (Indiewire), the film’s everyday concerns of friendships, cliques and young love remind us how the high school experience continues to shape who we become, even in the most unusual of circumstances.

ABOUT DASH SHAW
Dash Shaw is a cartoonist and animator whose latest graphic novel, Cosplayers, was released in September 2016 by Fantagraphics Books. His previous book New School was named one of the best books of the year by NPR. His other recent books include Doctors, BodyWorld and Bottomless Belly Button. His animated works include Wheel of Fortune, Blind Date 4, the Sigur Ros video and Sundance selection Seraph (co-written with John Cameron Mitchell), and the 2009 IFC webseries The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century AD. He wrote and directed the forthcoming independent animated feature My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea. He was a 2010 Sundance Labs fellow and a 2014-2015 Cullman Center fellow at the New York Public Library.

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Jerry Beck

Writer, cartoon producer and author of more than 15 books on animation history. A former studio exec with Nickelodeon and Disney; currently on the faculty at both CalArts in Valencia and Woodbury University in Burbank, California.