Buckeye Legend Leonard Hartman will be adapting a screenplay from a New York Times Best Seller. See Press Release below direct from Beverly Hills, CA.

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 9, 2007

Contact Flashpoint Entertainment: 310.205.6300

FLASHPOINT ENTERTAINMENT BUYS FILM RIGHTS TO
#1 BEST SELLING NOVEL, “WATER FOR ELEPHANTS”

Beverly Hills, CA (July 9, 2007)– Flashpoint Entertainment has acquired the screen rights to the #1 New York Times best selling novel, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, by Sara Gruen. Flashpoint’s Andrew R. Tennenbaum, a producer of the BOURNE IDENTITY film franchise, is set to produce the feature film. Leonard Hartman will adapt the screenplay. Read Article in Variety!

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, was named the Book of the Year for 2007 by BookSense.com of the American Booksellers Association. The love story/thriller, about a young veterinarian who joins a depression era traveling circus, currently resides at #1 on the New York Times Best Sellers List.

“I immediately fell in love with the story and characters, even the animals. There is no question that Sara Gruen is one of the most graceful story tellers of our age,” said Tennenbaum. “My parents actually gave it to me as a holiday gift, and their track record is impeccable- they gave me my first copy of the BOURNE IDENTITY and that has turned out better than I ever could have imagined.”

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS is the third novel from writer Sara Gruen, whose previous novels RIDING LESSONS and FLYING CHANGES also feature animals in prominent roles. She is currently writing THE APE HOUSE under a multi-million dollar deal at Spiegel & Grau, a division of Random House Publishing.

Leonard Hartman is currently adapting the book DRAGONOLOGY for Universal Pictures. He has written the screenplays for GOOSEBUMPS, based-on the internationally best selling collection of books by R.L. Stine, and an original Untitled Civil War epic also set-up at Universal.

Sara Gruen is represented by Emma Sweeney of the Emma Sweeney Agency; Don Laventhall of Books 2 Film handled the film deal. Flashpoint Entertainment and Andrew R. Tennenbaum are represented by attorney R. David Smith. Leonard Hartman is represented by Flashpoint Entertainment and International Creative Management.

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About Flashpoint Entertainment:
Flashpoint Entertainment, is a privately held Literary Management and Film Production company. Mr. Tennenbaum, President of Flashpoint Entertainment, is a producer of Universal Pictures’ THE BOURNE ULIMATUM, starring Oscar© winner Matt Damon & directed by Paul Greengrass, which opens nationwide on August 3, 2007. Previously, Mr. Tennenbaum was a producer of both THE BOURNE IDENTITY and THE BOURNE SUPREMACY. Flashpoint Entertainment most recently produced FANDEMANIUM, a documentary film about soccer fans at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, and just last month acquired the remake rights to ENTER THE PHOENIX, the Hong Kong movie hit produced by Jackie Chan.

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