Irish Abroad: Visit Films to sell Simon Fitzmaurice’s My Name is Emily at Toronto

New York based sales company Visit Films, has acquired the worldwide rights (excluding Ireland and Scandinavia) to Simon Fitzmaurice’s feature debut My Name is Emily.

The company, which is headed by Ryan Kampe, the former head of International Distribution at Focus Features, hopes to sell the film based of its appearance at the forthcoming Toronto International Film Festival.

My Name is Emily is love story between two teens and a road movie. On her 16th birthday, Emily escapes from her foster home and with the help of Arden, the boy who loves her, she sets out to find her father Robert, a visionary writer locked up in a psychiatric institution.

The film is written and directed by Simon Fitzmaurice, who was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease (ALS) in 2008. Now totally incapacitated, Simon typed the script and communicated to his cast and crew solely through the movement of his eyes and iris recognition software.

Evanna Lynch stars in the lead role Evanna Lynch (Harry Potter), support from acclaimed Irish actor Michael Smiley (Kill List, A Field in England) as her father Robert, and newcomer George Webster as Arden. The film was shot entirely in Ireland and premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh, where it won the Best Cinematography Award along with Bingham Ray New Talent award for producer Kathryn Kennedy.

My Name is Emily is produced by Irish companies Newgrange Pictures and Kennedy Films, the main financier being the Irish Film Board, with other finance from BAI, TV3 and the Irish tax incentive. The film was co-produced with Garagefilm International, Film Väst and Chimney Pot in Sweden and with support from SVT and with Paradox in Norway.

My Name is Emily will be released in Irish cinemas early next year.