http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118010910.html?categoryId=13&cs=1&cache=false
Amritraj, Stewart in tune with 'Dancing'
Duo team on youth-friendly dance pic
By MICHAEL FLEMING, ALI JAAFAR
Ashok Amritraj is teaming with music producer Dave Stewart to make “Street
Dancing,” a pic that is set in the world of a cutting-edge dance competition in
Singapore and New York.
The project will be the first to come out of Amritraj’s $75 million fund with
Abu Dhabi-based Imagenation and Singapore’s MDA.
Amritraj will produce through Hyde Park Entertainment. Imagenation Abu Dhabi
chief executive Ed Borgerding and Hyde Park’s Patrick Aiello will executive
produce with Stewart and Prem Akkaraju.
The film will be directed by Bille Woodruff (“Honey” and “Beauty Shop”), from a
script by David B. Harris. Stewart will create the music with A.R. Rahman,
Oscar-winning composer for “Slumdog Millionaire.”
Aside from mixing dance styles and cultures in the storyline, the film will
exploit cross-promotional opportunities through Nokia’s mobile platform, as the
tech company will have an association with the picture.
The pic revolves around a youth who makes a long-shot bid to win a dance
contest whose competitors and styles span the globe. Cindy Gomez will make her
feature film starring debut.
Gomez was recently featured in Nokia’s mobile game, “Dance Fabulous,” which
employed a dancing avatar of the young singer and introduced songs that will be
featured on her 2010 album from Interscope Records.
Hyde Park and Imagenation Abu Dhabi initially joined forces with a $250 million
co-financing and co-production fund to generate up to 20 films over seven
years. Last October, they extended the arrangement and formed a separate $75
million joint fund with Singapore’s MDA to coin three or four films over the
next five years. “Street Dancing” is the first film in the latter arrangement.
Aside from Gomez, Eurythmics founder Stewart also has a relationship with Nokia.
“I am very excited to be working with Ashok on this multi-platform,
multi-cultural charming film,” Stewart said. “The world is more connected than
ever before and as pioneers in connecting media from all sources, I found Hyde
Park, Imagenation and I shared this outlook.”
Said Amritraj: “This fresh and exciting pop-cross-cultural project is an
organic match for continuing our partnerships between Hollywood, the Middle
East and Asia, and gives us the ability to explore the exciting new
distribution format of mobile technology.”
Imagenation’s Borgerding called the project “the ideal property to commence our
partnership with Hyde Park and the MDA, it’s very reflective of our partners,
their culture and embodies our overall vision of creating global cinema for
mass audiences.”
Hyde Park Intl. head Mimi Steinbauer will handle worldwide sales.
