3/24/2015 Deadline
Alchemy has entered into a multiyear joint venture with The Swirl Group to create and acquire material that appeals to urban audiences. Under terms of the deal, home entertainment rights to seven of The Swirl Group’s completed films go to Alchemy: Saving Westbrook High, My Dad’s A Soccer Mom, The Dempsey Sisters, The Love Letter, Marry Me For Christmas, Comeback Dad and Where’s The Love? In addition, they have plans to produce and acquire 10 to 15 more films per year.
The move comes only a month after UCLA’s Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies released their second annual Hollywood Diversity Study which showed an under-representation of minorities of a ratio of more than 2-to-1 and that movies with a larger percentage of diversity in casting did the best at the box office. It also comes as Marvel announced late last year that 42‘s Chadwick Boseman will be the first African-American superhero to lead a stand-alone Marvel tentpole in 2017’s Black Panther. What better way to diversify the world than with a black superhero? Marvel is also expected to raise the profile of Falcone in the Captain America universe.
The announcement was made by Alchemy CEO Bill Lee and Eric Tomosunas, CEO of The Swirl Group, and Brett Dismuke, President and COO of The Swirl Group.
Swirl is headquartered in Atlanta, GA. As part of this deal the company will maintain offices at Alchemy’s headquarters in Los Angeles as well.
http://deadline.com/2015/03/alchemy-pacts-with-swirl-to-develop-films-with-an-urban-bent-1201398022/