Neon Buys TIFF Thriller ‘How to Blow Up a Pipeline’
Neon acquired the North American rights to thriller How to Blow Up a Pipeline from the Toronto International Film Festival, where it premiered in the writer-run Platform section.
Based on Andreas Malm’s manifesto to address the climate crisis, the film is directed by Daniel Goldhaber (‘CAM’), produced by Ariela Barer (‘Runaways’, ‘Atypical’), co-written and starred by Jordan Sjol and edited by Daniel Garber (‘CAM ‘, ‘Some Kind of Heaven’).
How to Blow Up a Pipeline follows a group of young environmental activists as they set out to sabotage an oil pipeline in a timely thriller described as “part risky heist, part radical exploration of direct action as climate activism.”
The film features an all-star cast that includes Ariela Barer, Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane, Jayme Lawson, Marcus Scribner, Jake Weary, Irene Bedard and Olive Jane Lorraine.
Neon is planning a theatrical release.
The deal is one of the first outside of Toronto, where the market has moved at a rapid pace. Magnolia Pictures acquired British period film Blue Jean on Monday, but that film premiered in Venice. The most notable deal to date has been Focus Features’ $30 million worldwide deal for Alexander Paynes’ The Holdovers.
In a joint statement, Goldhaber, Barer, Sjol and Garber said: “When we started work on this film, Neon was a dream distributor. They’ve done such an incredible job supporting films that are at the forefront of cinema and are always thinking of new, unconventional ways to connect audiences and films. We are so fortunate to have found a partner who is so passionate about this project and we couldn’t be more excited to be working with them to bring How to Blow Up a Pipeline to theaters across America.”
How to Blow Up a Pipeline was written, cast, funded and prepared in just seven months with funding from Lyrical Media and Spacemaker.
The film was produced by Isa Mazzei, Daniel Goldhaber, Ariela Barer, David Grove Churchill Viste and Adam Wyatt Tate with the production company Chrono. Alex Black and Alex Hughes are also serving as producers and Danielle Mandel is co-producing. Executive Producers are Jon Rosenberg, Riccardo Maddalosso, Sasha Lane, Forrest Goodluck, Jordan Sjol, Natalie Sellers and Eugene Kotlyarenko.
The deal for the film was negotiated by Jeff Deutchman and Mason Speta for Neon with CAA Media Finance on behalf of the filmmakers.