Sony Pictures will release Minhal Baig’s movie “We Grown Now” after the director, writer, and producer snagged the Changemaker Award at the Toronto International Film Festival this year. Baig says, “I could not be more delighted to have found a home for ‘We Grown Now’ with Sony Pictures Classics. ‘We Grown Now’ is a film that captures the tender moments of childhood resilience and the power of human connection in the face of adversity.”
“Sony Pictures Classics and Participant recognize the significance of our story’s themes of community and the importance of bringing such a film to theaters. We are beyond grateful that they have recognized this film as part of their incredible canon,” she concluded.
Set against the backdrop of Michael Jordan’s incredible 1992 season with the Chicago Bulls, “We Grown Now” follows two best friends, Malik and Eric, as they explore the city they also call home “to escape the mundaneness of school and the hardships of growing up in public housing, their unbreakable bond is challenged when tragedy shakes their community just as they are learning to fly.”
Joe Pirro, Head of Production at Symbolic Exchange, commented, “The ‘We Grown Now’ team is thrilled to join the Sony Pictures Classics family who have always been a home for visionary filmmakers like Minhal Baig and movies with, like ours, big hearts and soaring filmic ambitions.” The production company was founded by James Schamusm, the former CEO of Focus Features.
The deal with Sony was negotiated by SPC, Liesl Copland, EVP, Content and Platform Strategy, Stacey Fong, SVP, Business and Legal Affairs, and Adam Macy, Senior Counsel, Business and Legal Affairs, for Participant and Virginia Longmuir, EVP, Business Affairs for Stage 6 Films.
“We Grown Now” stars Blake Cameron James, Gian Knight Ramirez, S. Epatha Merkerson, Avery Holliday and Ora Jones, with Lil Rel Howery and Jurnee Smollett.