Catchfence

Marshall Curry-Directed Film to Open May 21in Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Dallas/
Ft. Worth, Fort Smith, Greenville, Houston, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh and Tampa

New York, NY [Thursday, April 15, 2010] NEW YORK, NY– The award-winning documentary Racing Dreams, recently acquired by Hannover House, will begin a theatrical roll-out in major markets beginning Friday, May 21, 2010. Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Fort Smith, Greenville, Houston, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh and Tampa will be the first cities able to see the film, which offers a poignant look into the lives of three kids who dream of one day racing in NASCAR.

“We at Hannover House are excited to have a family film of this quality leading off our 2010 theatrical release slate,” said Hannover House President, Fred Shefte. “It will be as much a financial success as it already is an artistic success; we are proud to be associated with Racing Dreams.”

The film, directed by Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker Marshall Curry and executive produced by actor Dwayne Johnson, follows 11-year-old Annabeth, 12-year-old Josh and 13-year old Brandon as they compete for the championship in the World Karting Association’s National Series — widely considered the Little League for professional racing. Clocking speeds of more than 70 mph, these young drivers race their way through the year-long National Series that spawned many of NASCAR’s top drivers. And at the same time, they navigate the treacherous road between childhood and young adulthood.

“On the surface, this is an exciting and funny movie about kids who love racing,” said director Marshall Curry. “But, beneath the surface, it’s a more universal coming-of-age story about being 11 or 12 years old and figuring out life and family and romance for the first time. Someone said recently it was ‘part Catcher in the Rye, part Talladega Nights.’”

What began as a simple request for the licensing of NASCAR footage and access to NASCAR events during filming ended with the NASCAR organization becoming an invaluable marketing and distribution partner once they screened the finished film.

“NASCAR embraced Racing Dreams as an exciting, heart-pounding portrayal of the path that teens and their parents take when chasing the dream of racing as a profession,” said Brad Ball, Vice President, Entertainment Marketing at NASCAR. “As part of our company’s ongoing youth initiative and content development, NASCAR is devoted to both educating and motivating young, aspiring NASCAR drivers.”

Named best documentary at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, Racing Dreams will join the slate of high-profile films Hannover House has recently acquired and plans to release throughout the year.

Racing Dreams was directed by Marshall Curry and produced by Bristol Baughan. The film was executive produced by Jack Turner, Dany Garcia and Dwayne Johnson of White Buffalo Entertainment and Ben Goldhirsh of Good Inc. It was recently announced that DreamWorks has optioned the remake rights to the film to be produced by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci through their deal at the studio.

Other recent acquisitions for Hannover House include Joel Schumacher’s thriller Twelve starring Chace Crawford and Emma Roberts as well as director Josh Radnor’s romantic comedy, happythankyoumoreplease. Both films were among the top echelon of major films premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Another significant acquisition, the action-thriller The Wild Hunt will screen for Hannover House at the New York City Gen Art Film Festival on Sunday, April 11.

For more information on Racing Dreams, please visit http://www.racingdreamsfilm.com/ or visit the film’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/RACING-DREAMS/173030410136?ref=ts.

ABOUT NASCAR

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for one of North America’s premier sports. NASCAR is the No. 1 spectator sport — with more of the top 20 highest attended sporting events in the U.S. than any other sport, and is the No. 2 rated regular-season sport on television. NASCAR races are broadcast in more than 150 countries and in 20 languages. NASCAR fans are the most brand loyal in all of sports, and as a result more Fortune 500 companies participate in NASCAR than any other sport.

NASCAR consists of three national series (the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series), four regional series, and one local grassroots series, as well as two international series. Also part of NASCAR is Grand-Am Road Racing, known for its competition on road courses with multiple classes of cars. NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races at 100 tracks in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico. Based in Daytona Beach (Fla.), NASCAR has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Charlotte (N.C.), Concord (N.C.), Conover (N.C.), Bentonville (Ark.), Mexico City, and Toronto.

- Racing Dreams Film, Press Release