Gravitas Ventures Acquires Crime Drama RESPITE From Filmmaking Duo Saro Varjabedian + Ali Abouomar For January Release

GRAVITAS VENTURES ACQUIRES CRIME DRAMA ‘RESPITE’ FOR JANUARY RELEASE

Gravitas Ventures, a Red Arrow Studios Company, has acquired North American rights to Saro Varjabedian’s feature film RESPITE. The film will be available to rent and own on North American digital HD internet, cable and satellite platforms through Gravitas Ventures on January 26, 2021.

Down and out private-eye Jimmy Baz reluctantly takes on a case to find a missing college student when the dead bodies of Muslim men start turning up, leading him to believe he is now searching for a serial killer.

Directed by Saro Varjabedian and written by Varjabedian and Ali Abouomar, RESPITE was produced by Monte Bezell, Julián Juaquín, Ahmet Devran Dayanc, and Karina Bezell. RESPITE stars Monte Bezell, Julián Juaquín, Ahmet Devran Dayanc, Haythem Noor, Leslie Kalarchian, Baylen Thomas, and Guillermo Iván.

“B Plus Pictures with 23 Entertainment is really excited to be releasing RESPITE through Gravitas. We are confident that Gravitas is the right distribution partner to ensure Respite makes it into the homes of audiences,” said Monte Bezell.

“A disturbing centuries old custom from another land whose legacy has ripple effects in the United States is a difficult subject for the screen. Producer Monte Bezell and director Saro Varjabedian succeed by not vilifying a culture and relying on shock, instead crafting a film with a unique premise, genuine intrigue and tension that keeps the viewer on edge through to the shocking end,” said Gravitas Ventures Acquisitions Coordinator, Megan Huggins.

The deal was negotiated by Sebastian Twardosz of Savant Artists on behalf of the filmmakers and Megan Huggins on behalf of Gravitas Ventures.

About B Plus Pictures
Created by husband and wife team Monte and Karyna Bezell, as a family owned Indie film company they bring a personal touch, values and integrity. B Plus Pictures focuses on diverse independent projects in film, television, and theater with artistic credibility, and secondly, have some potential for commercial success.

About Gravitas Ventures
Gravitas Ventures, a Red Arrow Studios company, is a leading all rights distributor of independent feature  films and documentaries. Founded in 2006,  Gravitas connects independent filmmakers and producers with distribution opportunities across the globe. Working  with  talented  directors  and  producers,  Gravitas  Ventures  has  distributed thousands of films into over a hundred million homes in North America - over one billion homes worldwide. Recent releases include The Secret: Dare to Dream, directed by Andy Tennant and starring Katie Holmes; End of Sentence starring Logan Lerman and John Hawkes; Looks that Kill; Tread; Loopers: The Caddie’s Long Walk, narrated by Bill Murray; Colin Hanks’ All Things Must Pass; and the upcoming Our Friend starring Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson, and Jason Segel.  Follow @GravitasVOD on Twitter and @gravitasventures on Instagram.

About Red Arrow Studios
Red Arrow Studios is one of the world’s leading creators and distributors of entertainment content, comprised of an acclaimed network of international production companies and labels in seven territories; world-leading digital studio, Studio71, based in six countries; and global film and TV distributors Red Arrow Studios International and Gravitas Ventures. The group’s significant output includes scripted, non-scripted and formatted content and IP, from TV and film to short-form and branded content, made for an array of global networks and platforms. Red Arrow Studios is part of ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE, one of Europe's leading media groups.