Indomina Shutters Distribution Unit And Lays Off 15 In LA Office
EXCLUSIVE: Indomina Releasing, the distribution division of The Indomina Group, is quietly suspending North American operations. The move comes three years after CEO Jasbinder Singh Mann established the branch to acquire and distribute genre fare for his upstart global media studio. A spokesperson tells Deadline that 15 LA-based jobs will be affected and Indomina is attempting to find third-party outlets for titles including its high-profile 2012 Sundance acquisition Filly Brown, starring Gina Rodriguez, Edward James Olmos and the late Jenni Rivera, which has been in release-date limbo for months. The company denied rumors that its LA office is closing completely, saying it is still sending its international team to Berlin next month. The plan is for Indomina Group to focus on producing original content out of its Dominican Republic facilities, shifting to feature films with more commercial studio appeal. VP Acquisitions Rob Williams, who ran point on the company’s domestic pickups, will remain through the restructuring.
The releasing business hasn’t been kind to Indomina, which started out specializing in Asian and genre fare before it began adding art house and niche titles to its library. Most recently, the label put out documentary The Imposter, Leos Carax’s acclaimed Holy Motors, and Sheldon Candis’s LUV to dismal returns (Imposter took in $898K domestically; Holy Motors $641K; and LUV $143K after two weeks of release). Ice-T’s Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap, picked up out of Sundance, similarly tanked last summer despite strong reviews and a cast full of hip-hop heavyweights. The Jet Li-fronted IMAX import Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate, the fourth-highest-grossing Chinese-language film of all time, scored just $170K on 15 screens stateside.
Previously announced Indomina productions include a live-action Afro Samurai movie, the Simon Pegg comedy A Fantastic Fear Of Everything, and horror prequels Cabin Fever: Patient Zero and Cabin Fever: Outbreak. Patient Zero has already filmed and is aiming for a 2014 release.
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