Hannover House has acquired North American rights to documentary "Racing Dreams," about three kids who dream of becoming NASCAR drivers. The film was named best doc at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.
Hannover, the film and video distribution division of Target Development Group, plans a national theatrical release for the film starting May 21.
Directed by Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Marshall Curry ("Street Fight"), "Racing Dreams" follows 11-year-old Annabeth, 12-year-old Josh and 13-year old Brandon as they compete for the championship in the World Karting Association’s National Series — widely considered the Little League for professional racing.
"On the surface, this is an exciting and funny movie about kids who love racing," Curry said in a statement. "But, beneath the surface, it’s a more universal coming-of-age story about being 11 or 12 years old and figuring out life and family and romance for the first time. Someone said recently it was part ‘Catcher in the Rye,’ part ‘Talledega Nights.’"
"NASCAR embraced Racing Dreams as an exciting, heart-pounding portrayal of the path that teens and their parents take when chasing the dream of racing as a profession," said Brad Ball, Vice President, Entertainment Marketing at NASCAR. "As part of our company’s ongoing youth initiative and content development, NASCAR is devoted to both educating and motivating young, aspiring NASCAR drivers."
Bristol Baughan produced the documentary; executive producers are Jack Turner, Dany Garcia and Dwayne Johnson of White Buffalo Entertainment and Ben Goldhirsh of Good Inc.
DreamWorks has optioned the remake rights to the documentary for a fiction feature to be produced by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.
For more information on "Racing Dreams," visit the film’s website or its Facebook page.
