Following this past weekend’s successful world premiere of Michael Damian’s dance driven crowd-pleaser “High Strung” at the 2016 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Paladin announced that it will release the film theatrically on more than 100 screens nationwide on April 8th. The Orchard has home entertainment rights and will launch the film later this Spring. Bloom Media handled worldwide sales with Disney Internatinal acquiring the majority of the international rights.
“High Strung,” follows the artistically-charged lives of a brilliant hip-hop violinist, a gorgeous classical dancer and an innovative hip-hop crew in New York City. Directed by Damian (Brodway star of “Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat,” ‘Danny’ on “The Young and the Restless” and Billboard #1 recording aritst), the film was written and produced by Damian and his wife, Janeen Damian, former dancer (Michael Jackson’s “Captain E-O,” “Footloose”). “High Strung,” stars American Ballerina Keenan Kampa (the first American dancer to secure a contract with Russia’s famed Mariinsky Ballet, and also the face of G Star Raw), Nicholas Galitzine (recently named a “Star of Tomorrow” by Screen International, and star of “The Beat Beneath My Feet” and the upcoming “Handsome Devil”), Golden Globe winner Jane Seymour (“Live and Let Die,” “Fifty Shades of Black,” “Wedding Crashers”), Sonoya Mizuno (who debuted in last year’s hit, “Ex Machina,” and appears in the upcoming “LaLa Land”), Comfort Fedoke (“So You Think You Can Dance All Star,” “Footloose,” “Step Up All In”) and YouTube star Ian Eastwood. Choreographer Dave Scott (“Step Up 3D,” “So You Think You Can Dance”), is featured in the film and choreographed the film’s extensive, high powered dance routines.
In “High Strung,” Kampa stars as Ruby Adams, a dancer from the Midwest with a scholarship to one of New York’s toughest performing arts schools. Johnnie Blackwell (Nicholas Galitzine) is an aspiring British musician, playing for money on subway platforms. Ruby’s world is classical and disciplined; Johnnie’s is improvisational and street smart. When these two young artists are thrown together, they immediately clash, but neither can deny the sparks that fly between them, or their shared ambition of trying to make it in the most competitive city in the world. When Ruby’s scholarship is threatened, and Johnnie suddenly faces deportation, they join forces and enter a contest where winning—or losing, could change their lives forever. With the help of a dynamic dance crew called The SwitchSteps, they prepare to perform in a competition that unites their disparate worlds, and climaxes in an action-packed boundary-breaking dance extravaganza that thrillingly blends multiple styles ranging from hard hitting hip-hop to classical dance.
