After “Blknws: Terms & Conditions” was pulled from this year’s Sundance Film Festival lineup, at the behest of its financiers at Participant Media, the independent movie has a new backer — and will light up snowy Park City with its world premiere after all.
James Shani’s Rich Spirit has acquired “Blknws,” buying Participant Media out of all rights in the process, with hopes of selling the film to a new distributor. Shani’s company is best known for rescuing “The Apprentice,” the controversial Donald Trump biopic, from Kinematics, which is backed by the billionaire former owner of the Washington Commanders, Dan Snyder.
Participant, the now-defunct social impact studio, did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Director Kahlil Joseph and producer Onye Anyanwu thanked Participant for “their willingness to relinquish ownership of the film, a gesture that allows audiences to finally experience what we’ve spent years crafting alongside so many contributing artists.This moment has been a long time coming, and we are thrilled to finally share this with the world.”
“Blknws: Terms & Conditions” was set to premiere in this year’s Sundance’s Next program as an official selection. However, Participant Media requested the festival yank the film from its lineup after learning that director Joseph submitted a new, secret cut to Sundance and other global fest’s without the media company’s knowledge.
In a letter obtained earlier this week by Variety, lawyers said Participant was “shocked” to find out that Joseph delivered a cut of “Blknws” that it hadn’t been screened.
“Given that Mr. Joseph delivered the film to Participant in November 2024, and Participant submitted that version to Sundance in reliance that it was the final cut of the film, it is completely unacceptable that Mr. Joseph continued to purport to make changes to the film,” the letter said.
Prior to Rich Spirit’s purchase, Participant was the primary producer and owned the copyright to the film. Three years earlier, A24 had boarded the film as a co-financier and distributor but quietly dropped out last August after Kahlil had still not delivered the final product, according to the legal letter.
After Participant pulled the film, a Sundance spokesperson told Variety the festival was “deeply disappointed to have been informed this evening by Participant that they are pulling ‘Blknws: Terms & Conditions.’”
Shaunette Renée Wilson (“Billions,” “Black Panther”) stars in the film, billed as an “ongoing art project that blurs the lines between art, journalism, entrepreneurship, and cultural critique, appropriating the newsreel format as an opportunity to reimagine the contemporary cinematic experience.”
Read the full statement from Joseph and Anyanwu:
This film would not have made it to Sundance without the early support and belief of A24 and Participant. Their faith in our vision from the very beginning was instrumental in bringing this project to life.
We are deeply grateful for their willingness to relinquish ownership of the film, a gesture that allows audiences to finally experience what we’ve spent years crafting alongside so many contributing artists. This moment has been a long time coming, and we are thrilled to finally share this with the world.
We look forward to welcoming audiences to the film’s debut and are excited to begin this next chapter for BLKNWS.
