Tiger and Variance Tag Team For “Rice”

A scene from Dave Boyle's "White on Rice." Image courtesy of the film's website.

Variance Films and Tiger Industry Films have announced the theatrical co-release of Dave Boyle’s “White on Rice.” The film will open in Los Angeles on September 11th at Laemmle’s Sunset 5, and expand throughout the fall.

Starring Hiroshi Watanabe, Nae Yuki, Lynn Chen and James Kyson Lee, “Rice” is described in the acquisition’s press release: “Jimmy loves dinosaurs and sleeps on the top bunk. Unfortunately, Jimmy is 40 and shares that bunk with Bob, his 10-year-old nephew. Freshly divorced, Jimmy lives with his sister Aiko and her family while boldly searching for a new wife.  His brother in-law, Tak thinks he’s a disaster. And although Jimmy may lack social grace, he is convinced the best years of his life are just beginning.  His plan seems like it’s all falling into place when Tak’s beautiful niece Ramona moves in. But once Jimmy sets his sights on stealing her from his best friend Tim, he sees his intentions go hilariously awry.”

Nguyen “Wyn” Tran of The Institution, who will handle sales, orchestrated the alliance between Tiger and Virance and will “collaborate on distribution and marketing duties with Variance Films president Dylan Marchetti.”  The pair previously worked together on the successful ImaginAsian Pictures release of “Journey from the Fall” in 2007, which grossed over $650,000 in the U.S. despite eschewing traditional advertising for a strictly grassroots approach.

“We found something very special in Dave Boyle and his abilities as a director, and we’re incredibly excited for people to experience the incredible charm of lead actor Hiroshi Watanabe and his onscreen alter-ego Jimmy“, said Tran in a statement.

“White on Rice is the perfect example of the kind of film we love to work on.  It’s heartwarming, it’s beautifully done, and most importantly, it’s funny”, added Marchetti in a statement. “It’s also the kind of a film that a lot of distributors wouldn’t know what to do with- but a film of this quality most certainly has an audience, and Variance is looking forward to bringing this delightful comedy directly to them where it will make the most impact- theaters.”

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“We’re so excited to have the first Tiger Industry Films theatrical release,” said Tiger Industry Films co-president and producer Michael Lerman. “With Dave’s diverse background and crowd pleasing sensibility, I couldn’t imagine a better national theatrical coming out for the company.”  White on Rice has its New York premiere on July 25th at Asian Cinevision’s Asian American International Film Festival. For more information, visit the film’s website. posted on July 24, 2009 |Share