Devolver Digital Films to Release
Diving Normal
A Touching Comedy-Drama Feature Film
Exploring Loyalty Among Friends & Lovers
Directed By Kristjan Thor

• Theatrical Screenings Around the U.S. Starting November 2014
• Cable VOD Release – January 13, 2015
• Digital VOD Release – January 27, 2015

Everyone Seems Normal Until You Fall in Love

LOS ANGELES, CA – November 18, 2014 – Devolver Digital Films is proud to announce the digital VOD and cable releases of the touching comedy-drama, Diving Normal. The film will also have a limited theatrical release in Los Angeles as well as one night event screenings in Atlanta, Austin, Nashville, New York, Orange County (CA), San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC, and other cities to be announced (please see schedule below). Directed by Kristjan Thor, the character-driven narrative feature film tells the story of a love triangle that occurs when two unlikely friends fall for the same beautiful, but broken, woman. In the film, an adaptation of the critically acclaimed play of the same name, the three main characters combat abandonment, addiction, and struggles with conforming to traditional relationships.

Gordon (Scotty Crowe) in Diving Normal

Diving Normal centers around the lives of Fulton and Gordon, played by Philipp Karner and Scotty Crowe, respectively, who also both performed in the original stage production as well as produced and co-wrote the adapted screenplay with playwright Ashlin Halfnight. The film’s cable VOD (Video on Demand) release is set for January 13, 2015 (check local listings). The digital VOD release is scheduled for January 27, 2015 via iTunes, Amazon Instant Video HD, PlayStation, Xbox, VUDU, Vimeo on Demand, VHX, Gumroad, Google Play, YouTube Rentals, and others. For additional information, please visit http://divingnormal.com.

Scheduled Screenings –
• Tue. November 18, 2014 (7:30pm) – San Francisco, CA – AMC Metreon 16
• Thu. November 20, 2014 (8:30pm) – San Diego, CA – Reading Cinemas Gaslamp 15
• Wed. December 3, 2014 (8:30pm) – Atlanta, GA – Landmark Midtown Art Cinema
• Thu. December 4, 2014 (8:30pm) – Washington, DC – AMC Loews Georgetown 14
• Thu. December 11, 2014 (8:30pm) – New York, NY – AMC Loews Village 7
• Mon. December 15, 2014 (7:30pm) – Seattle, WA – Central Cinema
• Thu. December 18, 2014 (8:30pm) – Santa Ana, CA – Regency South Coast Village
• Wed. January 7, 2015 (7:00pm) – Austin, TX – Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
• Sat. January 10 – Fri. January 16, 2015 – Los Angeles, CA – Arena Cinemas

Additional screenings of Diving Normal will be set up in theaters and community venues across the country through Tugg.com.

Diving Normal (Comedy/Drama, 2014, 92 min.) –
Diving Normal tells the story of an unlikely love triangle when best friends, an ambitious Brooklynite graphic novelist Fulton (Philipp Karner) and his socially awkward neighbor Gordon (Scotty Crowe), both vie for the attention of Dana (Susie Abromeit), a beautiful but damaged woman. Fulton and Dana begin dating, but the increasingly complicated situation is compounded by their pasts, which are littered with abandonment, accident, and sexual deviation. After discovering that Fulton has gone to visit his ex-girlfriend, the story takes a dark turn as Dana relapses and debases herself under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Gordon becomes Dana’s caretaker and, as they grow closer, the trio’s relationships are tested. Based on a play by Fulbright Award Winner Ashlin Halfnight, Diving Normal explores loyalty among friends and lovers, as well as the heartbreaking personal struggle of becoming an adult.

The film screened at the Dallas International Film Festival 2013, Manhattan Film Festival 2013, and Beverly Hills Film Festival 2014, where the film took home the Audience Award – Best Feature as well as the Best Actress Award (Susie Abromeit). The film also features the iconic Sandra Bernhard.

Scotty Crowe, Producer, Writer (Story) & Actor –
Scotty Crowe grew up on Jekyll Island, population 800, off the southern coast of Georgia. While in Atlanta, as a math major at Georgia Tech, he met John Mayer and became his tour manager. After four years on the road, Crowe made the move to Los Angeles to work in film and television. He won a number of television roles (Shameless, CSI: Miami, Privileged, 100 Questions) as well as theatre, including the original stage production of Diving Normal. On stage, he also performed in Tape and Marsh Light, directed by John Frank Levey. In 2010, he was cast in David Fincher’s The Social Network and the Bill Condon-created-and-directed HBO pilot Tilda, with Ellen Page and Diane Keaton. Condon and cinematographer Guillermo Navarro later called on him for a work session on the Breaking Dawn films.

After appearing on stage in the well-received Diving Normal, that experience led him and his producing partner, Philipp Karner, to option the play for a feature film adaptation. In the summer of 2012, Crowe and Karner produced the film script that they had developed (with playwright Ashlin Halfnight), each reprising their roles from the play, directed by Kristjan Thor. Shortly thereafter, Crowe went on to work with Halfnight and Thor on two other feature films, Astraea and Maybe There’s a Tree, both of which he also produced.

Philipp Karner, Producer, Writer (Story) & Actor –
Philipp Karner is a writer, producer, director, and actor. After graduating from culinary school in his hometown of Vienna, Austria and powering through a mandatory nine-month military stint, Karner put all those skills to good use by moving to New York City to become an actor. He spent the next six years in New York studying and appearing in several Off-Broadway plays. His first two flashy TV appearances were as a suit salesman on Sex & The City and as a telemarketer on The Sopranos. In dire need of better weather, Karner moved to Los Angeles where he earned guest roles on Castle, Without a Trace, Will & Grace, and CSI: Miami. He also played a recurring role on Everwood and acted in the Ben Affleck/Matt Damon produced Project Greenlight film, The Battle of Shaker Heights. Additionally, he landed lead roles in the romantic comedy Kiss the Bride and the independent dramas The Price of Happiness and The Morning After.

Karner then moved behind the scenes in order to direct two theatre productions, Stop Kiss and Dolores, which were both very well received. He also performed with Crowe in the original stage production of Diving Normal, which he later turned into a movie with Crowe. He recently completed his directorial debut, Like You Mean It, which he also wrote.

Kristjan Thor, Director –
Kristjan Thor is a critically acclaimed director of both theatre and film. Active for ten years, he recently completed his first feature, Diving Normal, and is in pre-production for two others, Iceland and Astraea. His wildly successful immersive fear experience, Blackout, is now running in both New York and Los Angeles, and was named, “the extreme theater event of the year” by the New York Times and “the scariest haunted house in NYC” by the New York Post. Thor graduated as a Senior Fellow from Dartmouth College and holds an MFA in Directing from Columbia’s School of the Arts.

Susie Abromeit, Actress –
Susie Abromeit is an actress, singer, songwriter, writer, and model. She was in the blockbuster film Battle: Los Angeles, has worked with Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme, and is best known for her roles in the Bruce Willis film Setup and for playing the leading lady alongside Rudy Youngblood in Beatdown. Abromeit made her film debut as the lead in the Lionsgate film, Know Thy Enemy. Soon after, she began to book roles in films such as Snake and Mongoose, Ambushed, Sydney White, Sex Drive, and I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. She also had recurring roles on Devious Maids and One Tree Hill.

She has since starred in 16-Love, Oscar-winner Nicolas Chartier’s Rush, and recently wrapped a recurring role on Tyler Perry’s The Haves and Have Nots. She has guest starred on Battle Creek, A Gifted Man, CSI: Miami, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Necessary Roughness, and recurred on Hollywood Heights. Abromeit has also appeared in a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition and a Super Bowl commercial for Go Daddy.

Devolver Digital –
Based in Austin, Texas, Devolver Digital distributes independent video games and guides indie filmmakers through digital distribution and film promotion. Devolver Digital’s outspoken passion for independent games, developers, and fans has earned the company no minor measure of game industry notoriety. With its expansion into film, which was announced at South by Southwest 2013, the company applies that same fiercely creative devotion and digital content expertise to support and celebrate indie filmmakers and projects. Co-Founder and Partner Mike Wilson says his own experience as a filmmaker seeking distribution led him and his partners to expand Devolver Digital into film. That experience has guided the company’s focus on “hand-crafted” strategic partnership and personal attention in distributing the titles on the label to a full range of digital and cable VOD platforms.

Links –
• Film’s Devolver Page – http://www.devolverdigital.com/films/view/diving-normal
• Official Site – http://divingnormal.com
• Trailer – http://vimeo.com/90168410
• IMDb – http://imdb.com/title/tt2401346
• Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/divingnormal

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For more information, photos, a screener, or to schedule an interview, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada at 213-840-1201, lynn@greengalactic.com.

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QUOTES

“… it’s just really sweet and really smart and at the same time, really dark.”

– DIFF Director James Faust, Big Screen Podcast

“Must See …a gripping story of a love triangle (of sorts)…”

– Laura Seewoester-Bute, Red Flying Horse

“Diving Normal questions what it means to be normal, and ultimately lends the argument that maybe there is no such thing. We’ve all felt lost, unloved, isolated, and unable to connect; this is a story about embracing those differences, regardless of how exposed or broken they make us feel, in order to finally see that we belong.”

– Jessica Tomberlin, Go See Talk