Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment Inc CSSE

With Paul Walter Hauser, Robbie Amell, Elisha Cuthbert, Sarah Chalke, Danielle Brooks, and Alan Tudyk

COS COB, Conn., March 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq: CSSE), one of the largest operators of streaming advertising-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) networks, today announced Screen Media’s acquisition of US rights to Scott Abramovitch’s comedy Eat Wheaties! starring Tony Hale with Paul Walter Hauser, Danielle Brooks, Lamorne Morris, Robbie Amell, David Walton, Sarah Burns, Elisha Cuthbert, Sarah Chalke, Sarah Goldberg and Alan Tudyk. A critically acclaimed hit on the film festival circuit, Eat Wheaties! recently won the Humor and Humanity Award at the Heartland Film Festival and Best Comedy at the San Diego International Film Festival. Screen Media will release Eat Wheaties! in theaters and on demand April 30, 2021.

An adaptation of Michael Kun's 2003 novel The Locklear Letters updated for the social media era, the film stars Tony Hale as Sid Straw, a man whose unexceptional life takes a wild turn when he’s named co-chair of his college reunion and accidentally stalks famous college classmate, actress Elizabeth Banks, on social media. His messages to her go viral, and with each failed attempt to convince people he really knows her, Sid's life spirals out of control until he finds himself banned from the reunion. Stuck at a crossroads and determined to rediscover the best version of himself, Sid hires an inexperienced lawyer to help clear his name.

“Sid Straw, born in Michael Kun’s brilliant novel, is an unforgettable character who inspired this journey. I can’t wait for audiences to experience Tony Hale’s hysterical and nuanced performance alongside a dream cast that I am so grateful to have worked with,” Abramovitch said.

“For his feature film directorial debut, Scott has delivered a terrific heartfelt comedy for the digital age where the best of intentions can sometimes have unexpected consequences,” said Screen Media in a statement. “Tony’s performance is so genuine and infectious that you can’t help but root for Sid through all of his trials and tribulations! Eat Wheaties!”

Written and directed by Scott Abramovitch, Eat Wheaties! was produced by Abramovitch and David J. Phillips, and executive produced by Daniel Norris Webb, Tony Hale, Andrew Kurzon, Salamo Levin, Tony Manolikakis and Jamie Abramovitch.

The deal was negotiated by Seth Needle, SVP of Global Acquisitions and Co-Productions, on behalf of Screen Media with Amy Beecroft at Verve on behalf of the filmmakers.

Screen Media’s recent acquisitions include the comedy Senior Moment starring William Shatner, Jean Smart and Christopher Lloyd, the critically acclaimed documentary Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street, and Off the Rails starring Kelly Preston. Recent releases include Rod Lurie’s The Outpost, which was one of the top-performing films of the summer and is on many end of year top ten lists, the Bella Thorne thriller Girl and Simon West’s action disaster film Skyfire and Nicolas Cage hit Willy’s Wonderland.

ABOUT CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL ENTERTAINMENT
Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSSE) operates streaming video-on-demand networks (VOD). The company owns Crackle Plus, which owns and operates a variety of ad-supported and subscription-based VOD networks including Crackle, Popcornflix, Popcornflix Kids, Truli, Pivotshare, Españolflix and FrightPix. The company also acquires and distributes video content through its Screen Media subsidiary and produces original long and short-form content through Landmark Studio Group, its Chicken Soup for the Soul Originals division and APlus.com. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment is a subsidiary of Chicken Soup for the Soul, LLC, which publishes the famous book series and produces super-premium pet food under the Chicken Soup for the Soul brand name.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks (including those set forth in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2020) and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements. The Company expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Company’s expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based. Investors should realize that if our underlying assumptions for the projections contained herein prove inaccurate or that known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from our expectations and projections.

INVESTOR RELATIONS
Taylor Krafchik
Ellipsis
csse@ellipsisir.com
(646) 776-0886

MEDIA CONTACT
Kate Barrette
RooneyPartners LLC
kbarrette@rooneyco.com
(212) 223-0561