SUBMARINE AND CONCORD ORIGINALS BOARD ILYA CHAIKEN’S NEW MUSIC DOC “Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks” FROM RbG’s JULIE COHEN AND BETSY WEST
Submarine has landed worldwide distribution rights to the documentary feature Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks with Concord Originals on board to finance and produce, it was announced today by Josh Braun and Dan Braun, co-founders of Submarine, and Sophia Dilley, SVP Concord Originals. Chronicling the Lunachicks, the seminal, feminist NYC punk band, the rollicking music documentary will have its world premiere at DOC NYC on November 10. The film is directed and produced by Brooklyn-based filmmaker Ilya Chaiken, whose directing credits include the Sundance and TIFF title Margarita Happy Hour and Liberty Kid, which was theatrically distributed by Kino Lorber and now streaming on Max.
Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks is executive produced by Betsy West and Julie Cohen, who directed and produced the Academy Award-nominated RBG and Amazon’s Peabody Award-winning film My Name is Pauli Murray; and Concord Originals’ Sophia Dilley, Charles Hopkins and Bob Valentine; with Concord Originals’ Wesley Adams and Quíle Gomez serving as associate producers. Concord Originals is financing the film.
Submarine is co-repping worldwide rights with CAA Media Finance and will introduce the music documentary ahead of its world premiere later this week at DOC NYC.
“We thought we knew a lot of bad-ass feminists, but when Ilya introduced us to the Lunachicks, we were blown away. Come to think of it, the word bad-ass might have been invented to describe the Lunachicks, as well as the director of this riotous, illuminating, inspiring documentary,” said Julie Cohen and Betsy West.
“I’ve been a devoted Lunachicks fangirl since I lucked into their very first show in 1988 when we were all teenagers. In making Pretty Ugly, I wanted not only to revive the Lunachicks experience, but to tap into their saga of enduring friendship, survival, and triumph – a universal story that I believe will resonate with audiences of all generations,” noted director Ilya Chaiken.
“We fell in love with this fantastic story about the trailblazing Lunachicks, who were not afraid to speak their minds! Ilya has captured the humor, energy and grit of the 80s and 90s punk scene as we follow the queens of punk rock on their journey full of high-octane performances and triumphant moments as the band navigates personal and professional obstacles – it’s an entertaining ride that will make you, if you aren’t already, a punk rock fan,” said Sophia Dilley, SVP Concord Originals.
“We are unbelievably excited to be working on this amazing film about an amazing incendiary band with the dream team of Ilya Chaiken, Betsy West and Julie Cohen. Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks is quite simply a music doc that rocks hard in every way and we can’t wait for the world to see it,” added Submarine’s Dan Braun.
Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks follows the Lunachicks, the influential punk band renowned for their unabashed humor and unwavering pro-women ethos. The band made their mark on NYC’s underground music scene in the ‘90s with songs like “Fallopian Rhapsody” and “Bitterness Barbie,” and performed with No Doubt, Green Day, The Offspring, The Go-Go’s, NOFX, Rancid, The Ramones, Rev Horton Heat, Warped Tour (main stage), L7, The Buzzcocks and Joan Jett. Facing casual sexism and outright misogyny at every turn, the Lunachicks never took their rightful place in the punk pantheon but they’ve maintained a rabid fanbase. A rollercoaster of drugs, romantic entanglements and creative conflicts led to their breakup decades ago – now, can they reunite for one last show?
The deal was brokered by David Markman from DLA Piper LLP (on behalf of Concord Originals).
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ABOUT SUBMARINE
Submarine is a hybrid sales, production and distribution company run by twin brothers and co-founders Dan Braun and Josh Braun. The company has been involved with the sale of six Academy Award winning documentaries: AMERICAN FACTORY, CITIZENFOUR, 20 FEET FROM STARDOM, MAN ON WIRE, THE COVE and SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN.
Submarine recently produced the 2023 Sundance competition documentary AUM: THE CULT AT THE END OF THE WORLD and the Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary series THE ANDY WARHOL DIARIES, the Netflix documentary PAMELA: A LOVE STORY, the Showtime docuseries THE 12TH VICTIM, the 2022 Sundance feature competition documentary FIRE OF LOVE and the feature documentaries CIRCUS OF BOOKS, CRIP CAMP and APOLLO 11. Other docuseries executive produced by Submarine include LENOX HILL, SONS OF SAM, EVIL GENIUS, THE KEEPERS, THE DEVIL NEXT DOOR and WILD WILD COUNTRY for which Submarine won the Emmy for best documentary series in 2018.
Other films in Submarine’s portfolio include: ALL THAT BREATHES, ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED, MOONAGE DAYDREAM, BILLIE EILISH: THE WORLD’S A LITTLE BLURRY, GOODNIGHT OPPY, THE RETURN OF TANYA TUCKER, NOTHING COMPARES AND THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, HONEYLAND, ONE CHILD NATION, ECHO IN THE CANYON, TELL ME WHO I AM, WATSON, THE AMAZING JOHNATHAN DOCUMENTARY, EDGE OF DEMOCRACY, THE KINGMAKER, MIDNIGHT FAMILY, SEA OF SHADOWS, CIRCUS OF BOOKS, XY CHELSEA, ERNIE AND JOE, THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS, THE OSLO DIARIES, CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, JOAN JETT: BAD REPUTATION, THE LEGEND OF COCAINE ISLAND, SHIRKERS, THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING, PICK OF THE LITTER, I CALLED HIM MORGAN, LIFE ANIMATED, WHOSE STREETS, WEINER, IRIS, BLACKFISH, THE WOLFPACK, FOOD INC, BATKID BEGINS, THE OVERNIGHT, FINDING VIVIAN MAIER, BEST OF ENEMIES, TINY FURNITURE, JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK among others.
About Concord Originals
Concord Originals is Concord’s narrative content creation division. The team develops and produces stories anchored by Concord’s artists, music and theatrical works, taking a proactive, narrative-driven approach to each project, and partnering with A-list storytellers to produce premium content for screen and beyond. The division’s slate is comprised of feature films, series, documentaries, and podcasts and its partners include HBO, Paramount, Netflix, Skydance, Telemundo Streaming Studios, Audible, Nuyorican Productions, White Horse Pictures, 3AD, and many others.
Upcoming projects include a multi-part docuseries about the legendary Stax Records for HBO from executive producer Ezra Edelman (O.J.: Made in America) and director Jamila Wignot (Ailey); two documentary features with White Horse Pictures that Concord Originals has co-financed including Shari & Lamb Chop and an untitled biopic about celebrated musician Billy Preston; and Alison Ellwood’s documentary feature Let The Canary Sing, chronicling musical icon Cyndi Lauper, which had its world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival 2023. Concord Originals also has an active scripted slate, including a remake of The King and I with Temple Hill for Paramount Pictures, a limited series adaptation of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella with Skydance TV and Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions and a bi-lingual (English/Spanish) TV adaptation of Alberto Ferreras’ award-winning novel “B as in Beauty” with Marsh Entertainment and Telemundo Streaming Studios.
ABOUT STORYVILLE FILMS
Storyville Films was founded by Academy Award®-nominee Oren Jacoby to produce documentaries and series driven by strong personal narratives of conscience, courage and innovation. Jacoby and fellow Academy Award®-nominees Julie Cohen and Betsy West serve as Storyville’s directors. Among our production and distribution partners are Amazon, CNN Films, HBO, Imagine Entertainment, Kino Lorber, Magnolia Pictures, Netflix, Participant Media, PBS, Sony Pictures Classics and Time Studios.
Films by the Storyville partners include West and Cohen’s Oscar®-nominated RBG, Julia, and My Name is Pauli Murray; Jacoby’s On Broadway, Shadowman, My Italian Secret, Constantine’s Sword and Sister Rose’s Passion, which was nominated for an Oscar® for Best Documentary (Short Subject); Cohen’s Every Body, released theatrically by Focus Features; and Jacoby and West’s upcoming feature documentary, produced with Patagonia Films, about people successfully taking on Big Oil.
Monica has a BA in Journalism and English from the University of Massachusetts and an MS in Journalism and Communications from Quinnipiac University. Monica has worked as a journalist for over 20 years covering all things entertainment. She has covered everything from San Diego Comic-Con, The SAG Awards, Academy Awards, and more. Monica has been published in Variety, Swagger Magazine, Emmy Magazine, CNN, AP, Hidden Remote, and more. For the past 10 years, she has added PR and marketing to her list of talents as the president of Prime Entertainment Publicity, LLC. Monica is ready for anything and is proudly obsessed with pop culture.
