17/05/2014 - CANNES 2014: The UK sales arm of Dogwoof has just closed major deals on Supermensch: the Legend of Shep Gordon by Mike Myers

Ana Vicente, head of theatrical sales at leading documentary specialist Dogwoof, has told Cineuropa that Supermensch: the Legend of Shep Gordon, by Austin Powers director Mike Myers,has been picked up by Germany (Rapid Eye), Scandinavia (Non Stop Entertainment) and Australia (Vendetta). The film tracks the life and career of one of the most influential and powerful figures in the entertainment industry, Shep Gordon, who was impresario to legendary rock stars Alice Cooper, Blondie and Anne Murray, also creating the concept of “celebrity chef”. The US documentary, which had its world premiere at Toronto, also includes archive material and interviews with the likes of Michael Douglas and Emil Lagasse.

“This film will be big, and the Weinstein Film Company’s specialist arm, Radius, is planning a major release in the US in June,” said Vicente, sitting in her office at the Riviera Marina Showroom in Cannes. Dogwoof Film Distributors will release it in the UK in July.
“We try to coordinate the releases with our international distributors to use social media and get the buzz going globally. We have a very strong presence on the web,” says Vicente, stressing that her company has its own VoD service, Dogwoof TV, and is known for its innovative web campaigns on titles such as The Act of Killing [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

Vicente is pushing several other strong theatrical documentaries screening at the market: Australian documentary The Last Impresario by Gracie Otto, featuring the impresario Michael White, friend to celebrities Yoko Ono, Kate Moss and John Cleese; it has already been sold to Canada and is in discussions for the US. Dogwoof will release it in the UK in the autumn. Finding Fela by Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney is having its market premiere at Cannes following its world premiere at Sundance. Meanwhile, Advanced Style, which screened at Hot Docs, was picked up by Scandinavia (Non Stop Entertainment) and Japan (New Select), as was Dinosaur 13 by Todd Miller, which will be released by Lionsgate in the US in August.

Dogwoof Global Sales is also pre-selling the UK/French documentary Sour Grapes, the story of the greatest wine fraud ever discovered. The film directed by Jerry Rothwell will be ready in 2015.