Freestyle Digital Media, the digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, proudly announces the acquisition of North American VOD rights to the uplifting and heartfelt documentary INTO THE SPOTLIGHT which will be available to rent/own on all North American digital HD internet, cable, and satellite platforms, as well as on DVD, starting on February 21, 2025.
INTO THE SPOTLIGHT is a heartfelt documentary feature film that follows a Dallas-based theatre troupe — composed of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities — who are determined to write, rehearse, and perform their 11th annual original musical. INTO THE SPOTLIGHT conveys the heartfelt story of how a script, a stage, and a theater program composed of adults with disabilities celebrate their creativity, explore life’s complexities, and empower a community in their own words and their own way. A lot of the time documentaries that focus on disabled communities tend to be the experts explaining how these people feel, however in INTO THE SPOTLIGHT, the film is crafted entirely from the point of view of the individuals giving them a voice. Nothing is editorialized and neither are there any people speaking for or on behalf of them. Only disabled people are interviewed and the only people who answer the questions are the disabled people themselves.
Directed by award-winning filmmaker Thaddeus D. Matula, INTO THE SPOTLIGHT was produced by Reverend Paul Rasmussen, Thaddeus D. Matula, King Hollis and features and profiles real-life disabled theatre performers including Christi Davenport, Cindy Johnston, Jason Carter, Daniel Wade, Andrea Parton, Sally Smith, Nancy Appelman, and Jacob Kunko.
“The Spotlight Musical Theater troupe are some of the most talented and empathic artists I have had the pleasure to meet, much less work with,” said filmmaker Thaddeus D. Matula. “These individuals speak for themselves and reveal to us their world. INTO THE SPOTLIGHT is their story in their own words.”
Freestyle Digital Media negotiated the deal to acquire INTO THE SPOTLIGHT directly with the filmmakers.
INTO THE SPOTLIGHT trailer (YouTube): www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOaRAhpgpms
