3 Ring Circus Tries Film Feat

PARK CITY, Utah -- On the eve of the Sundance Film Festival, a new film company has announced its formation. 3 Ring Circus, an award-winning international broadcast marketing and design firm that has produced two of the festival's recent selections, will form 3 Ring Circus Films, a film development and production arm.

3 Ring Circus Films will be overseen by Johnny Wow, head of production, and Drew Fleming, head of development.

"On an annual basis, we want to have five to 12 projects in development and plan to make two to four annually at under $5 million per picture," said Wow. "We're looking for Sundance-type movies -- diverse, character-driven, multilayered stories form visionary writers, directors and actors."

Prior to forming 3 Ring Circus Films, the parent company, which is headed by CEO John Sideropoulos and president Jeff Boortz, made two films that played at Sundance in 1997 and 1998.

In 1997, 3 Rings' "Dream With the Fishes" starring David Arquette, a visually adventurous tale of two men on the road living out their fantasies, was one of the artistic hits of Sundance. That film, written and directed by Finn Taylor, was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics and Lakeshore International during the festival.

Last year, 3 Rings' "One," the directorial debut of Tony Barbieri about two young men trying to pick up the pieces of their lives, found no domestic distributor. However, Wow said he has not given up on getting a domestic deal and has not sold the picture to television or video.

The company's first project in active development is "Escape From Kampala," which will be exec produced by Boortz, who brought the film to the company.

Written by London-based screenwriters Eric and Margaret Leclere, "Escape" is based on the true story of Wycliffe Kato's escape from Imprisonment by Idi Amin's brutal regime in 1974 Uganda. The script will be based on his autobiographical novel, "Escape From Idi Amin's Slaughterhouse."

3 Ring Circus specializes in creating innovative graphics, designs and images to promote the launch of international broadcast networks. It has clients in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Clients include Showtime, Telemundo and Columbia TriStar International Television.

Wow joined 3 Ring in 1994 as a producer for the broadcast design division and has been instrumental in setting up the new film division.

Fleming, who is newly hired, most recently served as vp motion picture development with Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based Cinewa. He was active in the development of Mandalay's "Dance With Me."

"Tear It Down," an urban action picture written and directed by Boortz and produced by Sideropoulos, is being handled by Alpine Pictures International. It will be offered at the AFM Market.