FilmNation Entertainment to Handle International Sales on Alex Gibney’s ‘Zero Days’ For Participant Media

NEW YORK/BERLIN (February 10, 2016) – FilmNation Entertainment has come on board to handle international sales for Participant Media’s Zero Days starting at the Berlinale. Written and directed by Alex Gibney (Academy Award© winning Taxi to the Dark Side, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief), Zero Days will world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in Competition. FilmNation will begin shopping the documentary thriller to foreign buyers, while Submarine is handling domestic sales.

Zero Days is a documentary thriller about warfare in a world without rules – the world of cyber war. The film tells the story of Stuxnet, self-replicating computer malware that the U.S. and Israel unleashed to destroy a key part of an Iranian nuclear facility, and which ultimately spread beyond its intended target. It’s the most comprehensive accounting to date of how a clandestine mission hatched by two allies with clashing agendas opened forever the Pandora’s Box of cyber warfare.

“Alex is an unbelievable story teller, and the subject matter is as relevant as anything in our world today. We’re very much looking forward to bringing this incredible film to theatrical distributors around the world,” said FilmNation Entertainment CEO Glen Basner.

Zero Days is produced by Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions and Global Produce’s Marc Shmuger, and executive produced by Jeff Skoll and Diane Weyermann of Participant Media and Sarah Dowland.

The deal was negotiated by EVP Business and Legal Affairs Gabriel Brakin on behalf of Participant Media, and CEO Glen Basner on behalf of FilmNation Entertainment.

In Berlin, Participant will also have Morgan Neville’s The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble screening in Berlinale Special Gala, along with the docu-series “Truth and Power” in EFM’s Drama Series Days, which FilmBuff is handling international sales in the market. This awards season, Participant is celebrating 13 Academy Award® nominations, including Best Picture for Bridge of Spies and Spotlight, as well as Best Documentary for The Look of Silence.

About Participant Media
Participant Media (http://www.participantmedia.com/) is a leading media company dedicated to entertainment that inspires and compels social change. Founded in 2004 by Jeff Skoll, Participant combines the power of a good story well told with opportunities for viewers to get involved. Participant’s more than 70 films, including Spotlight, Contagion, Lincoln, The Help, He Named Me Malala, The Look of Silence, CITIZENFOUR, Food, Inc., and An Inconvenient Truth, have collectively earned 50 Academy Award® nominations and eight wins. Participant has also launched more than a dozen original series, including “Please Like Me,” Emmy® Award-winning “Hit Record On TV with Joseph Gordon-Levitt,” and “Fortitude,” for its television network, Pivot (http://www.pivot.tv/). Participant’s digital hub, TakePart (http://www.TakePart.com), serves millions of socially conscious consumers each month with daily articles, videos and opportunities to take action. Follow Participant Media on Twitter at @Participant and on Facebook.

About FilmNation Entertainment
FilmNation Entertainment is a leading distributor, financier and producer of independent films and is a destination for many of the world’s most renowned filmmakers including Steven Soderbergh, Terrence Malick, Pedro Almodóvar, Woody Allen, Jonathan Glazer, Sofia Coppola, Jeff Nichols, J.C. Chandor, Rian Johnson, Anton Corbijn, Morten Tyldum, Lenny Abrahamson, Denis Villeneuve, and John Lee Hancock amongst many others. Since being founded in 2008 by veteran film executive Glen Basner, FilmNation has established itself as a home for specialty filmmaking with global appeal by focusing on a highly selective group of filmmakers and projects that emphasize both creative integrity and commercial potential. FilmNation is consistently ranked as one of the highest-grossing independent international film distributors, having grossed more than $200 million worldwide in both 2014 and 2015. The company has become a prolific and respected producer, and its titles are amongst the most critically lauded in the film industry with more than 30 Academy Award nominations and many wins since the company’s inception.

FilmNation produced two films in 2015 including Denis Villeneuve’s STORY OF YOUR LIFE to star Amy Adams and John Lee Hancock’s THE FOUNDER to star Michael Keaton- both to release in 2016. The company is financing several highly anticipated films including: HHhH, THE SENSE OF AN ENDING and THE BIG SICK. FilmNation is in development on Paul Greengrass’s Berlin Wall drama THE TUNNELS, THE GOOD HOUSE to star Robert De Niro, and more than a dozen others.

FilmNation’s previous and upcoming sales line-up showcases the work of many of today’s most exciting, established and up-and-coming filmmakers including back to back TIFF Audience Award winners: THE IMITATION GAME starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, and ROOM starring Brie Larson. Set to World Premiere In Competition at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival is Michael Grandage’s GENIUS starring Colin Firth, Jude Law and Nicole Kidman, and Jeff Nichols’ MIDNIGHT SPECIAL. Other recent releases include: Woody Allen’s IRRATIONAL MAN; MR. HOLMES starring Ian McKellen; Terrence Malick’s KNIGHT OF CUPS starring Christian Bale and Natalie Portman; Alexander Payne’s NEBRASKA; and Pedro Almodóvar’s THE SKIN I LIVE IN, LOS AMANTES PASAJEROS and the upcoming JULIETA; among many others.