Music Box Films has acquired North American rights for documentary “Steal This Story, Please!,” and will release the film on all major digital platforms on Oct 20. The film, initially self-distributed by the filmmakers, had a successful theatrical release across the U.S. in the spring, grossing close to $1 million. Music Box will also release the film on DVD and Blu-ray with the physical media release date to be announced.
It will have a live online screening on Oct. 13 at 8 p.m. ET, followed by a live Q&A talkback with Goodman, alongside Lessin and Deal (“Trouble the Water,” “Citizen Koch,” “The Janes”). Premiering at the 2025 Telluride Film Festival, “Steal This Story, Please!” went on to win audience awards at 11 festivals — including Mill Valley, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara and Woodstock.
The film, which had theatrical booking support from Michael Tuckman’s mTuckman Media, opened on a single screen in New York at the IFC Center in April, grossed over $30,000 opening weekend and was held over for 12 weeks. Expanding nationally, the documentary screened in more than 50 markets and was one of the best performing non-fiction releases of this year. Music Box has acquired the film for theatrical and home entertainment rights, taking over theatrical bookings moving forward.
In a statement, the distributor said that Goodman “has reported some of the most urgent and underreported stories of our time on her daily global newshour Democracy Now!. Drawing on an extraordinary archive, filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin take us behind the scenes with the warm, wisecracking granddaughter of an Orthodox rabbi — raised in a tradition of asking hard questions — as she navigates a media landscape reshaped by technology, corporate consolidation, and political assaults on the press.” It added, “Urgent, provocative and unexpectedly funny, ‘Steal This Story, Please!’ explores what’s at stake when journalism is threatened, and why the act of bearing witness has never mattered more.” Deal said, “We are thrilled that ‘Steal This Story, Please!’ will be part of the Music Box family of high-quality independent films, and that Amy’s story will get to home audiences far and wide at a moment when free expression is in the crosshairs of the President of the United States.” Lessin added, “Long before attacks on the press became a defining feature of our political life, Amy Goodman understood that democracy depends on independent, uncompromised journalism that doesn’t bow to power. We are excited to join forces with Music Box Films to build on the theatrical success of the film and ensure that it reaches home audiences in the same spirit of editorial freedom and direct engagement that has defined Amy’s work, as well as our own.” “ ‘Steal This Story, Please!’ had the highest-grossing week of any documentary in the history of the Music Box Theatre in Chicago,” said Music Box Films.
The sale of the home entertainment rights was negotiated by Brian Andreotti on behalf of Music Box Films and Ben Schwartz and Joe Tufano at Submarine.
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