Utopia Acquires North American Rights to "Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets"

Utopia announced today it has acquired the North American Rights to award-winning filmmakers Bill and Turner Ross's BLOODY NOSE, EMPTY POCKETS. A critically acclaimed sensation and one of the few films selected for both Sundance and Berlin this year.

This bold, boundary-blurring ode to a dive bar will screen in a series of creative special virtual events leading up to a release in July.


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"The inimitable Ross Brothers have crafted an immersive film that leaves audiences feeling as if they've been transported into the oddball warmth of their own favorite haunts," says Danielle DiGiacomo, Head of Content at Utopia Media. "Utopia is excited to be a part of sharing this unforgettable experience with a national audience."

In the shadows of the bright lights of Las Vegas, it's last call for a beloved dive bar known as the Roaring 20s. That's the premise, at least; the reality is as unreal as the world the regulars are escaping from. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets is a mosaic of disparate lives, teetering between dignity and debauchery, reckoning with the past as they face an uncertain future, and singing as their ship goes down.

"We're extremely happy to partner with Utopia," said Bill Ross. "At every step they've welcomed our weirdo ideas and pushed them even further. We felt like folks may want the experience of being in a bar and that community right now, so we hoped to move quickly to release the film, and Utopia didn't blink."


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The film will kick off with a limited first-look sneak preview screening on May 30, tickets are available now to 50 people on a first-come first-served basis HERE.

On National Dive Bar Day, July 7, Utopia will host a series of special one-day only virtual screenings of the film benefiting the USBG Foundation's Bartender Emergency Assistance Program COVID-19 Relief Fund. More information on these screenings and following rollout beginning July 10 will be announced in the coming weeks.


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"This is a unique film in a strange time and we wanted more than anything to share it with the people, offer a window into a way of life that seems foreign at the moment, and give back to those real life people who have been there for us through a lot of ups and downs - our bartenders!" added Turner Ross. "This is a story about the end of things as we know them, and the uncertain beginnings that follow. It is a story about camaraderie and commiseration - of coming together and sharing space."

The film is a Department of Motion Pictures Production, presented by Concordia Studios in association with XTR.  It was produced by Michael Gottwald and Chere Theriot, executive produced by Davis Guggenheim, Jonathan Silberberg, Nicole Stott, David Eckles, Minette Nelson, Matt Sargeant, Bryn Mooser, Kathryn Everett, and Josh Penn, and co-executive produced by Daniel Patrick Carbone, Matthew Petock, and Zachary Shedd.

Cinetic negotiated the deal with Utopia. Cinephil is handling international sales for the film.


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About Utopia Media (https://www.utopiadistribution.com/

Founded in 2019, Utopia Media is a film distribution and sales company with a 'filmmaker first' approach co-founded by filmmaker Robert Coppola Schwartzman. Recent Utopia titles include Academy Award Winner Errol Morris' American Dharma, Annabelle Attanasio's Cannes breakout, Mickey and the Bear, starring Camila Morrone, Lynn Shelton's Sword Of Trust, starring Marc Maron, Tim Heidecker's Adult Swim comedy, Mister America, Liam Firmager's portrait of trailblazing singer-songwriter Suzi Quatro in Suzi Q and, the 4K restoration of Hal Needham's 1986 cult-classic, Rad.

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