Global Digital Releasing Shifts Focus to Documentaries and Live TV Events (Exclusive)
Global Digital Releasing, the film distribution company that launched in 2017 with the hit Welsh language drama “The Passing,” is changing lanes to focus primarily on documentaries and live television events, TheWrap can report exclusively.
“To be a boutique distributor in today’s overwhelmingly competitive content game has made it even more vital that we consistently evaluate the performance trends of our films. Undoubtedly, we’ve seen a steady uptick in both engagement and revenue streams of our documentaries, well above and beyond our narrative films,” Global Digital Releasing president Joe Dain said in a statement.
“We believe this change in direction will not only benefit documentary filmmakers by giving them a dedicated home in the indie space, but this niche will also help differentiate our label from the competition and allow us to excel in the sector.”
In addition to 3-time BAFTA winner “Passing,” Global Digital Releasing’s roster of distributed films also includes the supernatural thriller “Without Name,” the drama “To Whom It May Concern” starring Dawn Oliveri & Wilmer Valderrama, and the Stef Dawson and Penn Badgley dramedy “The Paper Store.”
GDR will continue to support all films it has distributed, but moving forward it will no longer acquire narrative movies. The company already has a robust roster of documentaries, including “Clean Slate,” “Bowen’s Heart,” “A Peloton of One,” and “Knots: A Forced Marriage Story.”
But Global Digital Releasing has acquired several new documentary projects ahead of the switch in focus. This includes: “Playing With Fire,” a look at the career of conductor Jeannette Sorrell from two-time Oscar-winner Alan Miller; “The Thin Black Line,” director Jim Klock’s look at the challenges faced by Black police officers in America; “Gradually, Then Suddenly: The Bankruptcy of Detroit” directed by Sam Katz; “Sign The Show,” an examination of Deaf culture and the fight for access to entertainment, which features appearances by Kelly Clarkson, Waka Flocka, D.L. Hughley and more; “Service and Sacrifice,” a production of the National Law Enforcement Museum; and “Heading Away From the Ledge,” a stark and honest look at a brother’s struggle with mental illness and drug addiction.
