Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures Acquires Global Media Rights To Civil Rights-Era Biography "FROM SELMA TO SORROW: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF VIOLA LIUZZO"
Critically-Acclaimed Biography to Be Produced as a Theatrical Feature Film
LOS ANGELES, March 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Byron Allen's Allen Media Group feature film division, Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, is proud to announce its acquisition of global media rights to the critically-acclaimed historic biography FROM SELMA TO SORROW: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF VIOLA LIUZZO. Written by author/historian Mary Stanton (JOURNEY TOWARD JUSTICE, FREEDOM WALK, THE HAND OF ESAU), FROM SELMA TO SORROW traces the life story of Viola Liuzzo—a white housewife, part-time college student, and mother of five children—whose passion for the civil rights movement led to her brutal murder by the Ku Klux Klan immediately following her participation in the Selma to Montgomery civil rights marches of 1965. Liuzzo's story will be told through the eyes of her very best friend, Sarah Evans, an African-American woman who introduced her to the civil rights movement and raised Viola's five children after her untimely death.
While Viola Liuzzo is the only white woman honored at the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, fifty-five years after her murder, Liuzzo remains an enigma. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke at Liuzzo's funeral, and her murder motivated President Lyndon Johnson to galvanize support to achieve civil rights legislation.
Many saw Viola Liuzzo as a dedicated civil rights activist. However, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover compromised Liuzzo's reputation, as he crafted a malicious public relations campaign that unfairly portrayed Liuzzo as an unstable woman who abandoned her family to stir up trouble in the South. Hoover desperately tried to cover up the FBI's relationship with an informant and Klansman who participated in Liuzzo's murder. The years of unrelenting accusations, innuendos, and lies took a tremendous toll on the lives of Liuzzo's husband and their five children.
"Our passion for Viola Liuzzo's story is unwavering," said Carolyn Folks, Executive Producer with Allen Media Group. "We at Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures are committed to presenting Liuzzo's extraordinary acts of courage and her impactful contribution to the civil rights movement and our history. Viola Liuzzo will not be a forgotten hero."
The global media rights for FROM SELMA TO SORROW were acquired by Carolyn Folks, senior executive and Executive Producer of Allen Media Group/Entertainment Studios film and television content. Folks will serve with Allen Media Group Founder/Chairman/CEO Byron Allen as both Producer and Executive Producer of the FROM SELMA TO SORROW motion picture.
Tina Andrews wrote the screenplay based on the biography FROM SELMA TO SORROW. Andrews' numerous credits include writing and co-executive producing the two acclaimed miniseries JACKIE BOUVIER KENNEDY ONASSIS and SALLY HEMINGS: AN AMERICAN SCANDAL, as well as writing the feature film biopic WHY DO FOOLS FALL IN LOVE. Casting and production is scheduled to commence in 2021.
About Allen Media Group/Entertainment Studios
Chairman and CEO Byron Allen founded Allen Media Group/Entertainment Studios in 1993. Headquartered in Los Angeles, it has offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Raleigh. Allen Media Group owns 16 ABC-NBC-CBS-FOX network affiliate broadcast television stations and ten 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 180 million subscribers: THE WEATHER CHANNEL, PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, JUSTICE CENTRAL.TV, THEGRIO.TV, and THIS TV. Allen Media Group will add its eleventh network, THE WEATHER CHANNEL EN ESPANOL in 2021. Allen Media Group also owns LOCAL NOW and THE GRIO free-streaming AVOD services, powered by THE WEATHER CHANNEL and content partners, which delivers real-time, hyper-local news, weather, traffic, sports, and lifestyle information. Allen Media Group also produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 67 television programs, making it one of the largest independent producers/distributors of first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations. Allen Media Group International Television continues to extend its corporate branding and content around the globe. It currently has active license agreements and programming in South Africa, The United Arab Emirates, Australia, The Bahamas, Canada and New Zealand. With a library of over 5,000 hours of owned content across multiple genres, Allen Media Group provides video content to broadcast television stations, cable television networks, mobile devices, multimedia platforms, and the World Wide Web. Our mission is to provide excellent programming to our viewers, online users, and Fortune 500 advertising partners.
Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures is a full-service, theatrical motion picture distribution company specializing in wide release commercial content. ESMP released 2017's highest-grossing independent movie, the shark thriller 47 METERS DOWN, which grossed over $44.3 million. In 2018, ESMP also released the critically-acclaimed and commercially successful Western HOSTILES, the historic mystery-thriller CHAPPAQUIDDICK and the sequel to 47 METERS DOWN, 47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED. The digital distribution unit of Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, Freestyle Digital Media, is a premiere multi-platform distributor with direct partnerships across all major cable, digital and streaming platforms. Capitalizing on a robust infrastructure, proven track record and a veteran sales team, Freestyle Digital Media is a true home for independent films.
In 2016, Allen Media Group purchased The Grio, a highly-rated digital video-centric news community platform devoted to providing African-Americans with compelling stories and perspectives currently underrepresented in existing national news outlets. The Grio features aggregated and original video packages, news articles and opinion pieces on topics that include breaking news, politics, health, business and entertainment. Originally launched in 2009, the platform was then purchased by NBC News in 2010. The digital platform remains focused on curating exciting digital content and currently has more than 100 million annual visitors.
For more information, visit: www.entertainmentstudios.com
SOURCE Entertainment Studios, Inc.
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