4) Gabriel Byrne

#IrishFilm: Celluloid Dreams acquires sales rights to Irish/Canadian co-production Death Of A Ladies’ Man

ScreenDaily is reporting that Celluloid Dreams has acquired world sales rights to Matt Bissonnette’s Irish/Canadian co-production Death Of A Ladies’ Man.

The film stars Irish actor Gabriel Byrne as a hard-drinking, womanising, university poetry professor, and Antoine-Olivier Pilon (Mommy).

Bissonnette (Passenger Side) also wrote the script, which is produced by Ireland’s Martina Niland (Float Like a Butterfly) for Port Pictures and Canadians Corey Marr for Corey Marr Productions and Marie-Claude Poulin for MCP Productions. The film has received financial support from Monte Rosso Productions, Bell Media’s The Harold Greenberg Fund and The Movie Network (TMN), and The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

Samuel O’Shea has seen better days as the film opens. His second marriage is ending and he has started seeing strange things such Frankenstein sidling up to him in a bar, or his much-missed late father popping in for a chat.

When Samuel discovers he has a brain tumour, which may be the cause of his strange visions, he enters a more reflective period of his life, moving to his family’s remote shack, where he embarks on the novel he has been meaning to write all his adult life and unexpectedly falls in love with a local woman. This trajectory leads Samuel to an utterly unforeseeable happy ending.

The title is inspired by the work of Canadian musican Leonard Cohen and his 1977 album of the same name. Cohen was supportive of the project prior to his death in 2016, and his management continue that support.

I’m extremely proud of our involvement in Death Of Ladies’ Man. The script literally sings with its significant messages about the ephemeral but vital nature of life. It’s vibrant with humour and poetry, which is no surprise given the influence of Leonard Cohen, truly one the seminal artists of our time. Samuel O’Shea is an unforgettable character—viewers will be with him every step of the way on his journey.
Hengameh Panahi, President -Celluloid Dreams

We are thrilled to be partnering with Celluloid Dreams to bring Matt Bissonnette’s beautiful film to the world, and we are excited about the passion and confidence Hengameh, Charlotte [Mickie] and the rest of the Celluloid team have shown in the film’s worldwide prospects.
Corry Marr, Producer

Production will take place in Montreal and on the west-coast of Ireland this summer. Element Pictures Distribution will release the film in Ireland, with Mongrel Media doing likewise for Canada.