Bernie The Dolphin
‘BERNIE THE DOLPHIN’ SWIMS TO THE BIG SCREEN WITH AMBI GROUP, FAIRWAY FILM ALLIANCE AND GRINDSTONE ENTERTAINMENT
Kevin Sorbo, Patrick Muldoon and Lola Sultan to Star in Live-Action Family Feature from AMBI and Fairway Films
It was revealed today that Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi’s AMBI Group will team with Kirk Harris and Marty Poole’s Fairway Film Alliance to finance and produce a new live-action family feature titled “Bernie the Dolphin,” which will star Lola Sultan (“In Dubious Battle,” “This Beautiful Fantastic”) in the lead role, alongside Kevin Sorbo (“Hercules”, “Andromeda”, and recent directorial hit “Let There Be Light”), Patrick Muldoon (“Melrose Place”, “Starship Troopers”), and Stelio Savante (“Ugly Betty”, “My Super Ex-Girlfriend”).
Kirk Harris will direct “Bernie the Dolphin” from a screenplay written by Terri Emerson and Marty Poole. The Fairway Film Alliance partners (Poole and Harris) will produce the film alongside AMBI principals Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi, as we well as Tony Armer, the Film Commissioner for St. Petersburg Clearwater, FL. Executive producers are Barry Brooker and Stan Wertlieb with Stelio Savante as associate producer. Lola Sultan is represented by CESD Young Talent, Spotlight Management, and B2B Media. Sultan has appeared in over 20 commercials including the cult Frito-Lay “Trade you” national spot, which has aired more than 15,000 times and has 30M views online. She can be seen next in “Monsters At Large” which is being released in March 2018 by Grindstone/Lions Gate. Patrick Muldoon is represented by Primary Wave Entertainment, and Stelio Savante is represented by Stewart Talent.
AMBI Distribution, the worldwide sales arm of the AMBI Group, introduced the project at the American Film Market (AFM) last week and immediately closed a number of major global distribution deals. Lionsgate’s (NYSE: LGF) Grindstone Entertainment acquired all North American distribution rights on behalf of Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The film has currently secured deals in over 25 foreign territories.
The movie setting for this enchanting adventure for the entire family takes place in the fictional and sun-soaked beaches of Sea City, Florida. It is summer break for nine-year old bookworm Holly (Sultan) and her eleven-year old big brother Kevin, both of whom love the ocean, having formed a unique bond with a pod of local dolphins they visit every day. It is here that Holly discovers she has the uncanny ability to talk to the dolphins!
When the kids uncover a secret plan by their dad’s evil boss and Sea City’s greedy mayor that could destroy their beach, they almost drown while attempting to escape. Luckily, the dolphins come to the rescue and save Holly, but in the process, her favorite dolphin is separated from his family. Beached and alone, he is rescued by the Sea City Marine Animal Sanctuary with a very bad sunburn on his back.
With time running out to release Bernie The Dolphin back to his family, Holly and Kevin devise a clever plan to stop the bad guys, protect the sea life, and most important, save their best friend, Bernie!
“Bernie the Dolphin” will shoot on location in St. Petersburg, Florida in January 2018.
Andrea Iervolino said, “We’re very happy to be following up on our recent family film successes with another instant classic, especially one as heartwarming as this and with a strong message to continue to protect our environment. The response from our global distribution partners has been amazing to see. We know this film will find its wide audience on a global scale.”
“Fairway is extremely excited to be producing ‘Bernie The Dolphin’ with our friends at Grindstone and AMBI.” praised Fairway’s Marty Poole. “Combining our lovable star, Bernie, with a stellar cast, Fairway will be filming a fun family adventure story that will resonate with dolphin lovers of all ages!”
Grindstone’s Stan Wertlieb and Barry Brooker agreed that “Dolphins are one of the most beloved mammals on the planet. This dolphin’s tale is going to touch hearts, young and old, around the world. We are excited to be making this film with Fairway Film Alliance and AMBI Group.”
About AMBI
AMBI Group is a consortium of vertically integrated film development, production, finance and distribution companies wholly owned and operated by Andrea Iervolino and Monika Gomez del Campo Bacardi, Lady of Bayfield Hall, better known as “Monika Bacardi.”
AMBI has emerged as one of the industry’s most prolific financing, production and sales companies with the capacity to develop, package, finance, produce and distribute a broad array of films for the worldwide marketplace. Among the films on AMBI’s burgeoning film slate are the the father/son stock car racing film “Trading
In 2015, AMBI acquired the Exclusive Media Group film library, which includes an incredibly diverse portfolio of critical hits, commercial blockbusters and cult favorites such as “Begin Again,” “Cruel Intentions,” “Donnie Darko,” “End of Watch,” “Ides of March,” “Hit & Run,” “Memento,” “The Mexican,” “Parkland,” “Rush,” “Sliding Doors,” “Snitch,” “Undefeated” and “The Way Back,” to name a few. In addition to the library titles, AMBI now has the rights to a number of titles within EMG’s active movie development slate, as well as all sequel and remake rights to the popular EMG films.
Andrea Iervolino has produced, funded and distributed over 60 feature films including “The Merchant of Venice” and “The Humbling.” He is considered one of the youngest and most accomplished entrepreneurs in the film industry and was the recipient of the coveted Mimmo Rotella Award for his contributions to the Italian cinema industry – presented to him at the 2014 Venice Film Festival, alongside fellow recipients Al Pacino and Barry Levinson. Iervolino was most recently the recipient of a special award from Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on behalf of the Lazio Federation of Ontario distinguishing himself in both the Italian-Canadian community and Canadian society at large. He also the Ambassador of Italian Cinema in the World for the Italian Contemporary Film Festival (ICFF).
The prestigious University of Pisa commissioned and just published a biographical book based on Iervolino’s life titled “Da Cassino Ad Holliwood”.
Renowned for her passion of modern art and love of photography and movies, Monika Bacardi is a highly successful businesswoman who is now committed to producing films, through AMBI, on top of her numerous philanthropic activities.
About Fairway Films Alliance
Fairway Film Alliance is a full service independent film sales and production company of note founded by long time indie film veteran Marty Poole. Marty’s background include fifteen years of world sales and having written and produced a number of successful films. Produced titles include the brand new film “Army dog” with Casper Van Dien, “Standing Still” with Amy Adams, Colin Hanks, Mena Suvari and James Van Der Beek, and “Protecting the King” with Peter Dobson and Tom Sizemore.
Joining him is celebrated award winning actor-filmmaker Kirk Harris. Harris is the founder of the indie distribution and production shingle Rogue Arts and his films include “The Kid: Chamaco” (aka “The Fighter”) with Martin Sheens and Gustavo Sanchez Parra, “Intoxicating” with Eric Roberts and Camilla Overbye Roos, “A Sierra Nevada Gunfight” with Michael Madsen and John Savage, and “My Sweet Killer” with Clifton Collins Jr.
Fairway Film Alliance along with Rogue Arts has distributed or produced films that have appeared in the Sundance Film Festival, Slamdance Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival, and Toronto Film Festivals. Actors in their films include Johnny Depp, John Malkovich, Ben Kingsley, Cary Elwes, Martin Sheen, and Jason Patric.
Fairway Film Alliance is posed to expand this year continuing to produce and distribute family films, genre films and major festival titles.
About Grindstone
Grindstone Entertainment Group operates in partnership with Lionsgate to release over 30 acquired and/or produced films per year. As a fully integrated company with marketing and technology expertise, Grindstone excels in turnkey acquisitions while utilizing the Lionsgate brand to maximize results on all platforms. A leader in high-quality filmed entertainment, Grindstone’s production partnerships enable them to enlist the highest-caliber talent, resulting in such successes Aftermath, Maggie, The Last Knights, Solace, The Frozen Ground, Empire Stateand Fire With Fire.
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