Gabai launches Check for indie releases

Checks first release InSight stars Christopher Lloyd. Disappointed with the small number of screens independent films have been able to secure in recent years, producer Richard Gabai has formed Check Entertainment Distribution to market and distribute a slate of nonstudio fare. Company's first release will be the thriller "InSight," which bows Sept. 2, over Labor Day weekend, and Broken Glass Pictures' "Five Star Day," starring Cam Gigandet, in early November. Susie Niwa, who spent 12 years at 20th Century Fox and also worked for TriStar and Vivendi, will oversee deals with exhibs for Check Entertainment as VP of distribution. Shingle will release up to five films per year, with the company also helping handle releases in foreign markets. Exec first worked with Gabai when Fox released the Gabai-produced "Supercross," and in 2009, when Vivendi distribbed "Call of the Wild 3D," which Gabai produced and helmed. Gabai decided to take distribution into his own hands after growing frustrated with the limited number of screens on which his own films have played: The critically lauded "Beautiful Boy," for example, won kudos at last year's Toronto Film Festival but earned just $77,000 in its Anchor Bay release in July. "Independent films have been squeezed off of the bigscreen for too long," Gabai said. "Having been an independent filmmaker for 23 years, I'm very familiar with the challenges of getting a smaller film into the marketplace. I hope that my company will be able to streamline the process." "The normal approach would be to target L.A. and New York to create buzz, but we're going to try to open (films) as wide as possible on opening day," he added. "We all have to raise the profile of our movies, and a theatrical release still has the most impact." For "InSight," company has deals with AMC to play the pic on screens at the Empire in New York, Ontario Mills mall and the Block in Orange, Calif. In order to land the screens, however, CED will hold off on experimenting with release windows. The homevid for "InSight" won't bow until January. "InSight," directed by Gabai, follows an ER nurse (Natalie Zea) who experiences a victim's memories after she's electrocuted by the defibrillator used to save a woman's life. Sean Patrick Flannery, Adam Baldwin and Christopher Lloyd co-star. Contact Marc Graser at marc.graser@variety.com