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Kissena Park Press Announces Extended Two-Book Deal With W. William Winokur, Author Of Forthcoming Marathon
NEW YORK - June 1, 2005 - Kissena Park Press, an imprint of Starlight Runner Entertainment, Inc., today announced the signing of an extended two-book deal with W. William Winokur, author of the forthcoming Marathon (Kissena Park Press, 2006). The second title, The Third Miracle, is set for publication in early 2007 and a third as-yet-untitled novel is scheduled for 2008. Publisher Jeff Gomez negotiated the terms directly with the author.
The advance enthusiasm for the novels within the book and film industries led to the decision to move on the book deal, according to Gomez. "We've got our distributor and several film companies knocking on the door wanting more from this author," Gomez says. "He's a master storyteller who has a knack for finding true stories and bringing them to life on the page, which has prompted this flurry of interest."
Client Distribution Services will spotlight Marathon in its January 2006 list of Highly Recommended Books. At their urging, Gomez delayed publication of the book from Fall 2005 in order to support an anticipated surge in demand. "Marathon represents a literary quality that elevates it into a significant release," said David Wilk, Vice President of CDS. "The book has instantly raised Kissena Park Press in our esteem."
The Third Miracle is based on the true story of a Mexican barrio Little League team that gets its big chance to participate in the playoffs in Texas. The team, wearing their uniforms and carrying a change of underwear in paper bags, journeys to Texas to play the one game they are expected to lose. Four weeks later, they are being congratulated by President Eisenhower in the White House Rose Garden after becoming the first foreign team to win the Little League World Series in a miraculous championship.
Several film production studios have expressed serious interest in the forthcoming Marathon, with film rights acquisitions to be handled by Creative Artists Agency for Kissena Park Press.
Based on the true-life story of Horace Mann School Professor Ion Theodore, Marathon traces his remarkable journey through the most catastrophic and triumphant events of the 20th century. The heart of the novel is the mystery of how Ion's life became entwined with that of Marianna Gardner, a disaffected New York City power broker who discovers his journals in a Greek monastery. These diaries hold a revelation for Marianna that is far deeper and more personal than she could have ever imagined.
Bill now lives in Malibu, California, with his wife and three children, where he is completing a screenplay adaptation of The Third Miracle.
For further information, contact Christi Cassidy, +1-505-986-1142 or +1-917-217-4269. She can be reached during BEA at Booth #3709 (CDS).
About Starlight Runner Entertainment
Starlight Runner Entertainment, Inc. is a producer of feature films and highly successful franchises, specializing in developing new and established intellectual properties across multiple media platforms. Starlight Runner produces feature films, animation and shorts, packages books and comics, and develops video games for clients such as Scholastic Books, Hasbro, Mainframe Entertainment, Marvel Comics, Wizards of the Coast, the Walt Disney Company and Acclaim Entertainment. The company is also actively developing a slate of original animated and live-action feature films and television programs with New York, Los Angeles and Boston-based production partners. Starlight Runner is represented by Creative Artists Agency, the Robbins Office, and Peter Nichols of Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Goodman, Inc.
About Kissena Park Press
Kissena Park Press, http://www.kissenaparkpress.com, is a full-fledged trade book imprint of Starlight Runner Entertainment, Inc. providing a fertile environment for new, original properties, while honoring the industry's grand traditions. Citing Farrar, Strauss & Giroux and Knopf as models for the new house, Publisher Jeff Gomez and VP Production Mark S. Pensavalle are both passionate readers who spent their early teens venturing across the sprawling wilds of Kissena Park in working-class Flushing, Queens. The imprint's first book, Marathon by W. William Winokur, will be published in January 2006, with future releases spanning genres, educational books and children's books. National distribution is being handled by CDS, headquartered in New York with warehouses in Jackson, Tennessee.
Contact:
Mark Pensavalle
VP Production & Operations
Starlight Runner Entertainment
5 Union Square West, 4th floor
New York, NY 10003
ph (212) 337-0900
fx (212) 675-6121
Never Surrender!
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