FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Tara C.Silver, 202.415.6253, tara@westinrinehart.com
Jessica Hoy, 202.466.7717, jessica@westinrinehart.com
Erica Gerard, 212.373.6108, Erica.Gerard@pmkhbh.com 

SCREEN MEDIA FILMS AND THE CREATIVE COALITION LAUNCH THE SPOTLIGHT INITIATIVE

PARK CITY, UT (January 19, 2008)- The Creative Coalition, the leading social and public advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment community, will host cocktails, dining and entertainment to launch its Spotlight Initiative with Screen Media Films, a distributor of independent films. 

This partnership will be engaged inactive outreach efforts related to public policy issues showcased in Screen Media Films.

"Our organization is dedicated to promoting the relationship between public policy, music, media and film. The power of the arts to impact people, to move them towards positive social engagement is undeniable.  The Film Festival is a celebration of the arts and we intend to represent this to the best of our ability," said Robin Bronk, Executive Director of The Creative Coalition

Screen Media Films will now be able to have an impact on audiences beyond the purely emotional. The evening's festivities will include a special performance by The Hatch, the featured musicians in the Film Festival feature, A Merry Gentleman.   

Hosts for the evening include: Michael Keaton, Tim Daly, Damon Dash, Mario Van Peebles, Fisher Stevens, Chevy Chase and Emily Rios.  The evening's festivities are kicked off with an inaugural cocktail party for Fortitude Entertainment Group, a privately held production, animation, music and merchandising company. Cocktail reception will be followed by dinner and live entertainment.

DETAILS ARE AS FOLLOWS:   

Saturday evening, January 19, 2008

7:00 PM Inaugural Cocktail Party for Fortitude Entertainment Group

8:30PM Seated Dinner to Launch The Creative Coalition/Screen Media Films
Spotlight Initiative

9:30 PM  Private Performance by The Hatch

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About The Creative Coalition
The Creative Coalition(www.thecreativecoalition.org) is the leading 501 ©(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan social and public advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment community.  Founded in 1989 by prominent members of the creative community,T he Creative Coalition is dedicated to educating and mobilizing its members on issues of public importance, primarily public education, the First Amendment, arts advocacy, media literacy, destigmatizing mental illness and stemming runaway production.  Headquartered in New York City, The Creative Coalition also has offices in Washington, DC, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Creative Coalition does not endorse or raise funds for political parties or candidates.

About Screen Media Films
Screen Media Films acquires the rights to high quality, independent feature films for the US and Canada.  Screen Media's theatrical releases include Skid Row starring Pras from the Grammy award winning Fugees, and the award winning drama Canvas starring Marcia Gay Harden.  Adding to the 2008 theatrical slate will be Trailer Park Boys from Executive Producer Ivan Reitman, and the Werner Erhard documentary, Transformation. Since 2001, Screen Media has released more than 100 titles including Noel, starring Penelope Cruz and Susan Sarandon; Sherrybaby, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal; Kevin Bacon's directorial debut, Loverboy, starring Kyra Sedgwick and Matt Dillon; and Emmy nominated Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan.   All films are distributed on home video through an exclusive distribution arrangement with Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Screen Media Films, LLC is a wholly owned division of Screen Media Ventures.  With a library of over 1000 motion pictures, Screen Media Ventures is one of the largest independent suppliers of high quality motion pictures to U.S. and international broadcast markets, cable networks, home video outlets and new media venues.

About Fortitude Entertainment
Group Fortitude Entertainment Group, a privately held production, animation, music and merchandising company was birthed out of a vision to impact the culture with great entertainment for kids of all ages. The group, comprised of several horizontally and vertically integrated divisions has merged with Maya Animation (now named Fortitude Maya),a 150 seat animation house in Mumbai India and partnered with Jadran Films located in Zagreb, Croatia, once the largest film studio in Europe, now called Fortitude-Jadran. Domestically Fortitude has staff spread out between their recording studios and administrative offices in Phoenix, AZ; their studios in Burbank, CA; and their merchandising offices in New York, New York.

About The Hatch
Formed in St. Louis, now Brooklyn based, pop/rock group The Hatch, channels Michael Jackson and Elton John while also conjuring the modern sounds of The White Stripes and Jon Brion on their debut LP, FIT TO BURST. The band employs an indie-rock business model to drive forward its radio-ready rock songs dressed in RnB style. The Hatch is poised to catch today's desensitized pop fan off guard.