“Weak Layers”: Greenwich Entertainment acquires ski comedy from helmer Katie Burrell’s first feature

EXCLUSIVE: Greenwich Entertainment announced today that it has acquired North American distribution rights to Katie Burrell’s feature film debut Poor layers.

The film is directed and co-written by Burrell (who also stars) and Andrew Ladd, and stars Chelsea Conwright and Jadyn Wong. Poor layers will be released on January 5th in the top 50 markets and select mountain cities and on February 6th, 2024 on VOD.

The three women star as displaced roommates who participate in a ski film competition to clear up their living situation. In Lake Tahoe, these three passionate and lovely local women embark on a quest to win a world famous 72-hour ski short film competition. A progressive throwback to the cult classic, the film analyzes modern, male-dominated ski culture while championing the close-knit local communities in ski towns around the world.

“I love anything that turns a subject on its head, and this film is full of the kind of teasing satire that satisfies the rebel in me. “Having the opportunity to flip the script on the broadly dominated ski and snowboard industry in a way that makes people laugh is a dream come true, and I’m excited to work with Greenwich to bringing it to the public across the country to make it accessible,” he told Burrell. .

Realization Films, a production company dedicated to highlighting new voices and perspectives from the mountains, came on board for the production Poor layers after lead actors Jared Drake and Steve Siig discovered Burrell’s short film dream job, produced by Colleen Gentemann. Her previous project, the award-winning documentary Buried around the alpine meadow Avalanche in 2022 is currently available on Netflix.

“We wanted to make a first film that speaks directly to the mountain community without appeasing them. It also had to be an authentic film that both ski and non-ski audiences could identify with. Many of the voices we heard were on one side of the fence; It wasn’t until we heard Katie’s point of view that we knew we had a film,” said producer Jared Drake.

“Katie Burrell is a lot of fun Poor layers “Turning the trope of the ski movie ‘King of the Mountain’ on its head as they create a female-focused post-Bridesmaids comedy that has more on its heart than the obligatory party, pow, sick lines and big skies, ” says Edward Arentz, Co-President of Greenwich.

In addition to Burrell, Conwright and Wong, Poor layers features appearances by Evan Jonigkeit, Neil Bledsoe and KC Deane. The film also features guest appearances from top professional talent such as Michelle Parker, JT Holmes, Jonny Moseley, Cody Townsend, Elyse Saugstad, Scott Gaffney, Connery Lundin and Amie Engerbreston, among others.

Poor layers is produced by Ladd and Jared Drake of Realization Films, executive producers are Mark Gogolewski and Noah Lang, and co-producers are Colleen Gentemann and Steven Siig. Arentz negotiated the acquisition on behalf of Greenwich Entertainment.