DGA series prompts pic deals

Showcase picks up 'Dead' after screening

By NICK MADIGAN

Showcase Entertainment will handle worldwide distribution of Iren Koster's "Dead End," the second indie film in recent months to get picked up, following a screening at the Directors Guild of America's "Unreleased Films" series.

In February, director Laurie Agard's "Frog and Wombat" was picked up for distribution by both HBO and Showtime, following its unspooling at the DGA.

Koster -- who wrote and directed "Dead End" (1998) and exec produced "Hugo Pool" (1997) -- said he was flooded with calls from distributors after the March 26 screening.

"I had about 12 people come over, and they were really receptive," he said. Showcase has embarked on foreign sales for the film, including an airing at the market in Cannes. The DGA screening, Koster said, "was the catalyst."

Agard is similarly convinced that without her DGA screening, "Frog" (1998) might still be having domestic distribution blues. "We'd sold in over 40 countries, but were having a lot of trouble in the U.S."

The series, which began last Dec. 4, showcases low-budget and independent films that have not found theatrical distribution or television or videocassette distribution.

It evolved out of the DGA's Independent Directors Committee, whose members include indie stalwarts such as Allison Anders, Charles Burnett, George Hickenlooper, Steven Soderbergh and Penelope Spheeris.

"The DGA has really gone to bat for us," said Hickenlooper, who directed "The Big Brass Ring" (1998). A recut version of his film "Dogtown" (1997) will be shown at the DGA on May 7 at 3 p.m.

On May 21, two films will be shown: Sandy Tung's "Confessions of a Sexist Pig," at 1 p.m.; and Paul Sirmons' "The First of May," at 3 p.m.