Chely Wright – Wish Me Away – Film Documentary

As part of the June 2012 Pride of the Ocean festival program, Pride of the Ocean is partnering with First Run Features to present “Wish Me Away,” starring country western singer-sensation, Chely Wright, with filmmakers Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf on board.

For all the details, visit the First Run Features site.

It’s official!  “Wish Me Away” tied for the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 23rd annual Palm Springs International Film Festival on Sunday, January 15, 2012.

Dear Friends,

Yesterday we found out that we did not make the Oscar short list. While our first reaction was disappointment, after we looked at the list of films that made the list, and thought about all of you, all that we have accomplished together and how bright and exciting our future looks – we decided to not let it get us down or derail us in any way. We always knew it was a long shot, that there was no real rhyme or reason to how films were selected – and the truth is, we have suffered disappointments and set-backs before and they always seems to make us stronger.

This is how our sales agent, Andrew Herwitz, put it:

“…It is a big disappointment that I share with you. I have no explanation to offer. Some of the films on the list were awful, in my opinion. Others were better known films. Many were overtly political. At any rate, I am comforted by the knowledge that Wish Me Away already has a distribution deal to be in theaters and will soon have a tv deal as well so the world will get to appreciate the wonderful film you made.”

What we know is that this disappointment does not detract from the fact that audiences are hungry for this film. ONWARD to a great theatrical release.  There is a silver lining in this and together, we will find it and use it to propel us forward.

With continuing thanks and love,
Beverly & Bobbie

First Run Features has acquired U.S. rights to the award-winning Chely Wright doc “Wish Me Away.” The film, directed by Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf, tracks three years in the life of the country music star, as she struggles to come out publicly.

The doc is slated to hit theaters next Spring, followed by a VOD release.

Full release below:

First Run Features Acquires Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf’s
Award-Winning Documentary WISH ME AWAY

November 2, 2011, (New York) – First Run Features announced today its acquisition of the multiple award-winning documentary WISH ME AWAY from filmmakers Bobbie Birleffi and Beverly Kopf. First Run is planning a Spring 2012 theatrical launch with VOD, home video and television to follow. The deal was negotiated by Film Sales Company head Andrew Herwitz and First Run’s Marc Mauceri.

WISH ME AWAY tells the story of Chely Wright, the first country music star to come out as gay. After a lifetime of hiding, she shatters cultural and religious stereotypes within Nashville, her conservative heartland family, and most importantly, herself.

Over a three-year period, the filmmakers were given extraordinary access to Chely’s struggle and her unfolding plan to come out publicly. Using interviews with Chely, her family, key players in Nashville and her management team, and Chely’s intimate private video diaries, the film goes deep into her back story as an established country music star and then forward as she prepares to step into the national media glare to reveal that she is gay. Chronicling the aftermath of that decision in her hometown of Nashville and within the larger LGBT community, WISH ME AWAY reveals both the devastation of her own internalized homophobia – which led to Chely putting a gun in her mouth – and the transformational power of living an authentic life. It shows the struggles of being a Christian who happens to be gay. And it reveals how “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” has found it’s way into the culture of Nashville.

“This redemptive and inspiring true story shows how one brave soul risks her career, family, fame and fortune, so that she can be true to herself. It is drama of the highest order,” said First Run’s president, Seymour Wishman, in a statement. “We’re proud to be working with Bobbie and Beverly to bring Chely’s story to audiences in North America.”

“From the beginning, our vision has been to take this film not only to urban audiences, but to small towns in the heartland, the South, the West, and across the country,” said Birleffi and Kopf. “As they did for Dan Karslake’s FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO, we’re confident First Run will make our film available to people everywhere, and we look forward to working with them.”

WISH ME AWAY has so far been honored with the Jury Award at the Los Angeles Film festival, the Award for Outstanding Documentary Feature at Frameline, The San Francisco LGBT Film Festival, and the Audience Award at the Nashville Film Festival, among many others.

Founded in 1979, First Run Features is one of American’s notable distributors of documentary and foreign films. Recent releases include DA Pennebaker’s and Chris Hegedus’s KINGS OF PASTRY, Ken Bowser’s PHIL OCHS: THERE BUT FOR FORTUNE, Joe Berlinger’s CRUDE, and Judith Ehrlich’s and Rick Goldsmith’s Academy Award-nominated THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS.

It’s been a busy week!  “Wish Me Away” took three new awards!

• Favorite Documentary at the Seattle LGBT Film Festival

• Golden Strand Best Documentary at the Tallgrass Film Festival in Kansas

• Best Documentary prize at the Pittsburgh LGBT Festival

It takes a movement to move a mountain, and that’s what we’re creating.

Thank you all for your support!

As an AUDIENCE AWARD winner at the National Film Festival, we’re eligible to become a finalist in the prestigious Gotham Awards. All you have to do is go to this link and vote for us. Awards are wonderful ways to reach a larger audience — which is our goal.

Here’s the link to vote: http://www.indiepixfilms.com/videocontest_sv/IFP-AUDIENCE/5470

Thanks for your support!

IFP and Festival Genius are proud to announce the 2nd annual AUDIENCE AWARD for the 21st Gotham Independent Film Awards. This award celebrates audience award winners from across the Top 50 US and Canadian film festivals. YOU get to choose the winner.

The finalists will be chosen from your votes and will all be invited to attend the Gotham Awards where the winner will be announced live. The second round of voting will begin on November 10th and will feature the top 5 films from round one. The winner of the Festival Genius Audience Award will be announced at the 21st Gotham Independent Film Awards on November 28th.

Dear Supporters,

In the midst of gay teens committing suicide and anti-bullying programs being ignored in schools throughout the country; caught in a choke-hold of  anti-gay marriage rhetoric from Congress, church pulpits, state legislatures and even Presidential candidates, comes WISH ME AWAY, a simple story of courage that can reach even the most closed and judgmental heart.

The response to Wish Me Away has been incredible. Tears, laughter, and standing ovations. People coming up to us to thank us, saying how it has healed a deep wound they have carried around all their lives; telling us they can’t wait to share it with their families, friends, congregations. This is what has inspired us to make our dream of a theatrical release a reality.

But without a 35mm print, that dream will die and thousands of people who need to see this film, who have been waiting to see this film, will not get the chance. Wish Me Away has a mission and you can be part of it. The clock is ticking.

Thanks,
Beverly

Please help get the word out. All contributions go through our fiscal sponsor, the San Francisco Film Society and are tax deductible.

Here is the link:  http://www.indiegogo.com/Wish-Me-Away?a=59373&i=addr

Thanks to all of your support, we were able to complete the film and launch it into the Film Festival circuit, where it continues to win major awards: the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Los Angeles Festival, Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at Frameline 35 in San Francisco.

Now comes our exciting news. We are planning a theatrical release in early 2012. This is a milestone for any documentary, and we are thrilled. But it comes with a price tag. Because we plan to screen Wish Me Away in small towns and hamlets across the country, we need to make a 35mm print. So we have decided to launch a new IndieGoGo campaign to raise the necessary funds.

Please help get the word out. All contributions go through our fiscal sponsor, the San Francisco Film Society and are tax deductible.

Here is the link:  http://www.indiegogo.com/Wish-Me-Away?a=59373&i=addr

Many thanks,

Bobbie Birleffi, Beverly Kopf
Producers/Directors, Wish Me Away

Wish Me Away is not just about Marriage Equality or Religion Based Bigotry. Wish Me Away is about YOU finding your place in the world, feeling accepted not just by friends and family, but by your deepest self and by God as you know Him/Her.

WMA understands that the path to happiness, salvation, freedom, love – whatever you may call it – is through the heart. Our film speaks directly to the heart and that’s why it will change the world – your world. So… please… wherever you are, hang in there. WISH ME AWAY is coming to find you.

WISH ME AWAY has just won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature at the Los Angeles Film Festival AND also the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at the  Frameline 35 Festival in San Francisco!

Two wins in one week!! We are thrilled beyond words and so moved by the response to the film. We had packed theaters, standing ovations, and people coming up to us to express what this film means to them.

This is the comment from the Jury at LAFF:

“For its honesty, humor and potential to change minds and even save lives, the jury awards the Documentary Award to Wish Me Away.”

We’ll be screening at OUTFEST in LA on July 15 and at NEWFEST in NYC on July 22nd.  Hope to see you there!  More exciting news to come!

Thanks to each of you for your support throughout this amazing three year process.

Bobbie and Beverly

As marriage equality was being signed into law in NY, we were screening Wish Me Away in LA. And it was more than coincidence – it was a tipping point.

The response to Wish Me Away has been beyond anything we ever dreamed. Not just that we won The Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature at both the Los Angeles Film Festival and at Frameline 35 in San Fransisco, or the standing, cheering 10 minute roar of an ovation we received at The Castro, it was in the faces of the people who came up to us, thanking us, sharing personal stories, letting us know that this film that we poured our heart and soul into was already making a difference.

We are incredibly grateful to Chely Wright for her enthusiastic support of this film and we look forward to seeing new faces and hearing new stories at OutFest (LA July 15th), NewFest (NY July 22nd) and beyond.