For Immediate Release:

Creative Differences
Announces the North American Release Of
Dinotasia
A Beastly Animated Feature Film
Narrated by Werner Herzog
On DVD/Blu-ray & Digital Platforms
Tuesday, November 6, 2012

LOS ANGELES, CA – October 10, 2012 – Creative Differences is pleased to announce the Tuesday, November 6, 2012 release of Dinotasia, an animated feature film narrated by Werner Herzog, on DVD/Blu-ray and digital platforms in the U.S. and Canada through Flatiron Film Company, a label of Cinedigm Entertainment Group (NASDAQ: CIDM).  A marriage between classic visual storytelling and CGI dinosaurs, the film is an anthology of humorous prehistoric stories created in the cartoon-style of the Golden Age of animation.  The film is co-directed by long-time Herzog collaborator Erik Nelson and Disney character designer David Krentz.  The DVD/Blue-ray includes the 83-minute feature film plus an extended scene, a mating rites extra story, and a stunning hand-drawn version of the final story.  For more information, please visit http://www.newvideo.com/flatiron-film-company/dinotasia.

The film will run theatrically for one week in New York City – from Friday, October 26, 2012 through Thursday, November 1, 2012 – at IFC Center (323 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10014; 212-924-7771).  For tickets ($13.50) and more information please visit http://www.ifccenter.com/films/dinotasia.

“The Sunday Times said it best,” says Erik Nelson, co-director and producer for the film, “when they called Dinotasia the ‘Sopranos of the Mesozoic.’”

poster artwork for feature animated film Dinotasia (courtesy Creative Differences)

Dintotasia is not a typical documentary or nature film, but a love letter to fans of bizarre, graphic novel-style film vignettes and classic film animation.  Werner Herzog, an early fan of the project, lends his unique voice as narrator, serving as a tour guide to the strange world of Dinotasia.  Here, in Dinotasia, audiences can feast their eyes on mind-blowing segments including the saga of a dinosaur family under siege from a rogue T-Rex, a post-apocalyptic narrative set after an asteroid destroys most of the earth, and a story about the mind-blowing adventures of a dinosaur after he ingests the Jurassic ancestor of a magic mushroom.  Definitely not the narrative diet of most dinosaur films.  In fact, not the diet of any film creation, save Dinotasia.  The fact that all of these stories are based on hard science and the fossil record makes the end product even more amazing.

The animated stories are told in a purely visual style not seen since the classic era of silent filmmaking and the pioneering early work of Walt Disney Studios.  Aside from brief  “Herzogian” narration to introduce each sequence, the film has no character dialogue, just music and imagery.  Based on current research findings from recent paleontology studies, Dinotasia uses CGI to bring to life many creatures that have been discovered in recent years.  The back plates for the animated action were primarily shot in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, and in the old-growth forest of Humboldt County in Northern California.

Dinotasia was co-directed by Erik Nelson, best known for his work with Herzog on his documentary features including Grizzly Man and Cave of Forgotten Dreams, with David Krentz, the lead character designer for a number of Disney films, including John Carter and Dinosaur.

Credits –
– Narrator – Werner Herzog
– Directors – David Krentz & Erik Nelson
– Producer – Erik Nelson
– Executive Producers – Dave Harding & Amy Briamonte
– Music – Mark Leggett
– VFX Supervisor – Douglas Martin
– Supervising Director – Ricardo Delgado
– VFX Producer – Chad Nixon

Dinotasia –
– Release date: November 6, 2012
– DVD Pricing: $29.95 U.S./$34.95 CAN
– Blu-ray Pricing: $34.95 U.S./$39.95 CAN
– Runtime: 83 minutes, plus extras
– Rating: N/A
– DVD Catalog #: NNVG279290
– Blu-ray Catalog #: NNVG279310
– Language:  English
– Color:  Color
– Audio Format: 5.1
– Genre:  Animation
– Bonus: Single DVD and Blu-ray include extended scenes, a dinosaur mating rites extra story, and stunning hand-drawn version of the final story.

Erik Nelson, Co-Director & Producer –
Erik Nelson is the President of Creative Differences and the co-director/producer of Dinotasia.  Other recent projects produced and directed by Nelson include 9-11: Science and Conspiracy, National Geographic Channel’s Dark Secrets Of The Lusitania, and The History Channel’s Engineering Evil, a two-hour documentary on the logistics of the Holocaust.  Nelson also produced Werner Herzog’s 2005 feature Grizzly Man, Oscar-nominated Encounters at the End of the World, Into The Abyss and Cave Of Forgotten Dreams (the highest grossing feature documentary of 2011). http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625356

David Krentz, Co-Director –
David Krentz is one of the world’s leading dinosaur artists.  Krentz was lead character designer for the benchmark Disney CG film Dinosaur, and has contributed to such movies as John Carter, Fantasia 2000, Treasure Planet, Spiderman 2, Valiant, The Ant Bully, Spiderwick, and Outlander, as well as many other live-action and animated films currently in production.  http://www.davidkrentz.com/davidkrentz/David_Krentz.html

Werner Herzog, Narrator –
High-stakes German filmmaker Werner Herzog, known for exploring dark and dramatic material, was born in Munich and grew up removed from technology in a remote Bavarian village.  He worked as a welder to fund production of his first film at age nineteen and has since directed more than fifty features.  He has also published more than a dozen books of prose and directed as many operas.  His films have won numerous awards, including the special grand jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival for The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974) and best director at the Cannes Film Festival for Fitzcarraldo (1982).  His other films include: Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu (1978), Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997), Grizzly Man (2005), Rescue Dawn (2006), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010), and Into the Abyss (2011).  http://www.wernerherzog.com

Creative Differences –
Creative Differences is a Los Angeles- and Vancouver-based production company.  Over the past fifteen years, Creative Differences has produced a wide range of programming for an even wider range of television networks, including: HISTORY, A+E, Animal Planet, Discovery, National Geographic, Fox, CBS, MTV, and PBS.  The company has produced notable series such as Unsolved History, Time Warp, Blood Dolphins, and Megadisasters as well as the feature documentaries Grizzly Man, and the Oscar-nominated Encounters at the End of the World.  http://www.creatvdiff.com

Cinedigm Entertainment Group –
Cinedigm Entertainment Group, a division of Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. is a state of the art digital distributor of award-winning independent films and alternative content.  CEG has released close to 200 independent films and alternative content events over the last few years, with past releases ranging up to 1,000 screens based on content and audience footprint. Current and upcoming CEG films include No Room For Rockstars, Parris Patton’s documentary chronicling the Vans Warped Tour; Like Water, directed by Pablo Croce; The Invisible War, directed by Kirby Dick; Citadel, directed by Ciaran Foy; In Our Nature, starring John Slattery; and 22 Bullets, starring Jean Reno and produced by Luc Besson.

Additionally, Cinedigm delivers feature films, TV programs and web originals via digital download, streaming, video-on-demand, Blu-ray, and DVD.  The company’s library includes award-winning documentaries from Docurama Films®, next-gen indies from Flatiron Film Company®, including international blockbuster Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, and acclaimed independent films and festival picks through partnerships with the Sundance Institute and Tribeca Film.  Cinedigm is proud to distribute many Oscar®-nominated films including Hell and Back Again, GasLand, Waste Land, The Secret of Kells, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, and Chico & Rita. Cinedigm™ and Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp™ are trademarks of Cinedigm Digital Cinema Corp. and Cinedigm Entertainment Group. [CIDM-G] www.cinedigm.com

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For interviews, a screener or additional information, please contact Lynn Tejada of Green Galactic at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.

stills from the feature animated film Dinotasia (courtesy Creative Differences)