Chances are good you have never heard of the independent film Gimme the Loot. According to Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme, that's a problem. Thankfully, it's one he feels uniquely qualified to remedy.
The film premiered at SXSW last spring, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature. From there it hit the festival circuit, and earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Feature. IFC Films/Sundance Selects will be distributing Gimme the Loot in just a few weeks, and to help it attract the kind of attention an indie effort with no big stars needs to get seen, Demme is adding his name to its promotion. Basically, it will be sold as "Jonathan Demme Presents Gimme the Loot. "
Speaking of the film, Demme told Deadline:
“Knowing that Gimme the Loot is — astonishingly — Adam Leon’s first feature most certainly adds to the film’s extraordinary sense of achievement. But the sheer entertainment value of this very smart, hilarious, and heartfelt movie made by young filmmakers about contemporary young people, filmed and played with great freshness and originality, is what makes Gimme the Loot a truly thrilling experience — this is really one crazily accomplished American motion picture debut.”
Written and directed by Leon, Gimme The Loot follows two Bronx-based graffiti artists (Tashiana Washington and Ty Hickson) with grand artistic ambitions. So when a rival gang buffs their latest masterpiece, they plot to tag the iconic New York landmark, the Met's apple. Over the next two heat wave-ridden days, they'll need to scramble to get together the $500 required to put their plan in action.
This is great news for Gimme the Loot, and of course for Leon, as it seems Demme—the filmmaker behind such groundbreaking cinema as The Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia--is looking out for his career. This could be the start of a major new talent's rise.
Check out Gimme the Loot's trailer below, but be warned the language is NSFW.
Gimme the Loot opens in limited release on March 22nd.
