“Regent Releasing is thrilled to be working with the talented Ryan Shiraki and the creative forces at Element Films to bring Freshman Orientation to theatres nationwide,” said Mark Reinhart, Regent’s Executive Vice President of Distribution and Acquisitions. “This sharp and witty comedy is a welcome addition to our growing 2007 slate of quality film projects.”

Starring Sam Huntington (Superman Returns), Marla Sokoloff, Bryce Johnson (Sleeping Dogs Lie) and Heather Matarazzo, with John Goodman and Rachel Dratch, Freshman Orientation centers on a typical Midwestern 18-year-old freshman at a large state university eager to begin his wild college party life. He instead discovers that school is not the beer-driven, sexual fantasy of his imagination.

Determined to do anything to win over a beautiful sorority girl, he decides to pose as gay in order to insinuate himself in her life. This seemingly harmless charade, however, quickly lands him in a morass of campus activism, gender warfare, fraternity hazes, sorority torture, "coming out" narratives, political martyrdom, and ultimately, a university-wide meltdown.

Freshman Orientation, which marks the first feature film directed by former Saturday Night Live producer Shiraki, made its debut in competition at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. In addition to his work on Freshman Orientation and SNL, Shiraki wrote the script for The Shallow End, produced in 2001, and co-wrote the screenplay for Poster Boy, released by here! Films and available on DVD this month. Other Shiraki screenplays have been picked up by studios including Fox 2000, DreamWorks, Revolution, Miramax, and Focus Features.

Regent Releasing is dedicated to distributing first-rate independent films to theater venues throughout the United States. Working closely with its clients, the company has managed to develop and create coherent marketing strategies and then implement them in a professional manner. Regent Releasing emphasizes top-notch customer service and diligent collection efforts while maintaining flexibility and sensitivity to the independent filmmaker. Utilizing its close working relationships with theaters all across the country has allowed Regent to assure meaningful theatrical releases for its projects and has given the company a powerful advantage in distribution negotiations and enhanced ancillary revenue.

Regent provides its discerning audience with powerful and thought-provoking titles including The Hunting of the President, concerning the right-wing agenda to destroy Bill Clinton; festival favorite Summer Storm, an import from Germany about a young man coming out in the world of competitive rowing; the timely political drama Poster Boy; the Spanish comedy Queens, featuring some of the first ladies of Spanish cinema; and Aurora Borealis, starring Donald Sutherland, Joshua Jackson, and Juliette Lewis.

Upcoming projects on the Regent slate include Cut Sleeve Boys, focusing on two British-Asian gay men; the drama Race You to the Bottom, starring Cole Williams and Amber Benson; and Unconscious, named the Best Foreign Language Film at the HBO Comedy Arts Festival.

Until next time!