San Francisco Dance Film Festival
Presents the San Francisco Premiere Of
Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance
At Film Society Cinema
During its Third Annual Festival
Sunday, March 18, 2012

LOS ANGELES, CA – February 10, 2012 – Hybrid Cinema is pleased to announce the San Francisco premiere of the feature length documentary Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance at the third annual San Francisco Dance Film Festival on Sunday, March 18, 2012 at 6:00pm.  The film, directed by Bob Hercules, chronicles the legendary Joffrey Ballet from its humble beginnings touring the country in a borrowed station wagon to becoming one of the world’s most exciting and prominent ballet companies.  The San Francisco premiere will feature a Q&A immediately following the screening moderated by the film’s director, Bob Hercules with former Joffrey Ballet dancers as panelists including Ashley C. Wheater, Artistic Director of the Joffrey Ballet; Helgi Tomasson, Artistic Director, San Francisco Ballet (subject to availability); Tina Le Blanc, former principal dancer, Joffrey Ballet and San Francisco Ballet; and Henry Berg, current director of The Ballet Studio, San Francisco.  Presented at Film Society Cinema, which is located at 1746 Post Street (bet. Webster & Buchanan), San Francisco, CA 94115, the evening is co-produced by Words On Dance, and the film serves as the closing night event of the festival.  Tickets cost $20 to the screening and live Q&A afterwards.  VIP tickets are available for $100, which include an invitation to an exclusive catered after-party at a private residence in San Francisco where guests can mingle with the artists. Currently an extremely limited block of early-bird tickets are available for $75.  For tickets and information on the festival please visit www.sfdancefilmfest.org.  For more information on the film please visit http://www.joffreymovie.com.

The San Francisco Dance Film Festival, presented in collaboration with the Ninth Street Independent Film Center and Words on Dance will run from March 15th through March 18, 2012 with screenings held at the Delancey Screening Room, the Ninth Street Independent Film Center, and the Film Society Cinema. Tickets are $10 – $100.  For media inquiries about the festival please contact Gregg Schoenberg at gregg@sfdancefilmfest.org or 415-336-4383.

Gerald Arpino's "Light Rain" Photo credit: Herbert Migdoll

Synopsis –
Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance
Director: Bob Hercules
Country: USA, 2012, 90min.
This insightful documentary, executive produced by Harold Ramis and Jay Alix and produced by Una Jackman and Erica Mann Ramis, examines the dynamic trajectory of the groundbreaking American ballet company – The Joffrey Ballet – which daringly combined traditional ballet and modern dance at a time when it was not routinely accepted. Weaving a wealth of archival footage, behind-the-scene photos and interviews with former and current Joffrey star dancers, director Bob Hercules (Bill T. Jones: A Good Man) documents the struggles and achievements of the Joffrey from its newfound beginnings in 1956 to the Company’s present international success. The film features rare excerpts from many seminal Joffrey works including Astarte, Trinity and Billboards, as well as breakthrough collaborations with choreographers such as Twyla Tharp, Leonid Massine, Laura Dean, and Kurt Jooss. Founders Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino and a host of ballet notables, including Gary Chryst, Trinette Singleton, Helgi Tomasson, Kevin McKenzie and more, are featured in the film. Narrated by Tony® and Emmy® Award winner Mandy Patinkin, the film is a rich chronicle of a ballet company that continues to reinvent itself, raise the bar and invigorate audiences worldwide.  See list of full credits at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1829041/fullcredits.

Distribution –
Following the film’s world premiere in NYC in late January, Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance will embark on a U.S. tour through Spring 2012 with stops not only in Los Angeles but also in Chicago, San Francisco, Detroit, Aspen, St. Louis, and many other cities. Special one-off events with Joffrey alumni and limited theatrical engagements are planned. The documentary will then have a VOD/DVD/digital release in June of 2012 through New Video.

Multimedia – The Expanded Joffrey Story –
Hybrid Cinema is also releasing multimedia companion projects with exclusive content for fans wishing to further explore the Joffrey legend beyond the film.  There is a series of digital photobooks called Joffrey Maverick Moments.  Each new edition will be available for free from the film’s website and Facebook page.  The digital photobooks are based on themes and time frames found in the film such as Joffrey’s Nutcracker, the psychedelic rock ballet Astarte, Arpino’s most well regarded ballets (The Clowns, Trinity, Olympics, Round of Angels, Light Rain), and more with rare photos accompanied by quotes from Robert Joffrey, his friends and associates, as well as alumni interviews that provide further insight and background into the Company.  Hybrid Cinema also has started releasing a series of audio podcasts with exclusive new interviews of Joffrey alumni.  These podcasts are available on the film’s website.  The multimedia companion projects will be released leading up to the DVD release in June.  Regular content, including film clips, bonus outtakes, and blog articles, is also available on the film’s website and YouTube channel.

Director Bob Hercules –
Bob Hercules is an award-winning veteran producer/director (Forgiving Dr. Mengele, Bill T. Jones: A Good Man, Senator Obama Goes to Africa).  The co-founder of Media Process Group, his work has been seen widely on PBS, The Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel and the Independent Film Channel (IFC). He has also directed commercials for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Alzheimer’s Association, McDonald’s Corporation, Gap Clothing Stores and the Obama For President Campaign.  His documentary, A Good Man, co-directed by Gordon Quinn, chronicles the intense creative journey of Bill T. Jones – a 2010 Kennedy Center Honors recipient and two-time Tony® Award winner for Best Choreography.  It premiered on November 11, 2011 on PBS’ celebrated series American Masters.

The Joffrey Ballet –
For more than a half-century, The Joffrey Ballet’s commitment to taking world-class, artistically vibrant work to a broad and varied audience has created a solid foundation that continues to support the Company’s unprecedented capacity for achieving important “firsts.” Today, the Joffrey, which has been hugely successful in its former residences in New York and Los Angeles, lives permanently in a brilliant new facility, Joffrey Tower, in the heart of America – Chicago, Illinois. The Company’s commitment to accessibility is met through the most extensive touring schedule of any dance company in history, an innovative and highly effective education program including the much lauded Joffrey Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet, and collaborations with myriad other visual and performing arts organizations.

Co-founded in 1956 by visionary teacher Robert Joffrey and dancer Gerald Arpino, who would become the organization’s principal choreographer, The Joffrey Ballet began as a DIY dance company of six dancers touring the United States in a borrowed station wagon. What started as a childhood dream quickly grew into one of the world’s most exciting and prominent ballet companies. Together, Joffrey and Arpino transformed the face of dance by merging classical ballet technique with bold new perspectives for edgy new ballets that challenged conventions. Aggressive touring took the Company from school auditoriums across America’s Heartland, to the White House at Jacqueline Kennedy’s invitation, on to Russia for a month-long tour during the height of the Cold War, and beyond.  They also garnered extensive media attention for their daring originality, which included appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, the cover of Time Magazine, and in major motion pictures such as Save the Last Dance and Robert Altman’s The Company (which is based on the Joffrey).

Classically trained to the highest standards, The Joffrey Ballet expresses a unique, inclusive perspective on dance, proudly reflecting the diversity of America with its Company, audiences and repertoire, which includes major story ballets, reconstructions of masterpieces, and contemporary works. The Joffrey Ballet continues to thrive under internationally renowned Artistic Director Ashley C. Wheater and Executive Director Christopher Clinton Conway. The Joffrey Ballet has become one of the most revered and recognizable arts organizations in America and one of the top dance companies in the world. To learn more, please visit http://joffrey.org/.

San Francisco Dance Film Festival –
The San Francisco Dance Film Festival’s mission is to support collaboration between dancers and filmmakers and to provide these artists with a Bay Area platform to show their work.  The organization also seeks to bring works of historical importance to a wider public audience and to provide education and support for emerging dance filmmakers.  Dancers and filmmakers have worked together since the invention of the motion picture, but the dance film genre exploded in recent years as digital technologies became more accessible to independent choreographers.  Against this backdrop and with the support of the Ninth Street Independent Film Center, the San Francisco Dance Film Festival emerged from a series of local screening events produced by the dance film organization Motion Pictures, founded by choreographer/filmmaker Greta Schoenberg in early 2008. http://www.sfdancefilmfest.org

Hybrid Cinema –
Hybrid Cinema was created by filmmaker and author Jon Reiss (Think Outside the Box Office, Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul) to help filmmakers navigate the ever-changing world of film distribution and marketing.  Hybrid Cinema consults with filmmakers to help them with the new digital era of distribution and marketing by utilizing modern strategies of audience engagement, special theatrical events, as well as innovative merchandising and release patterns.  Hybrid Cinema also supervises film releases. Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance is Hybrid’s second full release of a film following the graffiti documentary Bomb It.  Indicative of the innovative release and audience engagement strategies used by Hybrid, the Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance release marks the first time that a film has simulcast its film festival world premiere throughout the U.S. as the launch of its theatrical release.  Hybrid Cinema orchestrated this pioneering release strategy by, among other things, bringing the participating organizations together for these milestone premiere events.  For more information on Hybrid Cinema, please visit http://www.hybridcinema.com/

Key Links –
Official Movie Site – http://www.joffreymovie.com/
Movie YouTube Channel – http://www.youtube.com/user/JoffreyMovie
Movie Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/JoffreyBalletMovie
Movie Twitter – http://twitter.com/#%21/JoffreyMovie
Joffrey Ballet Site – http://joffrey.org

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For more information, or to request screeners, images, and interviews, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com