Magnolia Pictures and Participant Buy ‘The Grab,’ Global Thriller From ‘Blackfish’ Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Brent Lang Executive Editor Magnolia Pictures and Participant have partnered to jointly acquire North American rights to “The Grab,” a new documentary from “Blackfish” director Gabriela Cowperthwaite.

The film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, follows journalists from The Center for Investigative Reporting as they work high-profile sources and utilize a cache of secret data to uncover the money and influence being used by countries, corporations and members of the uber-elite to control the planet’s most vital resources.

Participant and Magnolia are positioning the film as a “high-stakes global thriller,” one that takes viewers from Arizona to Zambia as the moviemakers examine the food and water scarcity that’s resulting from this little-known power grab. “We’re thrilled to reunite with our good friends at Participant and the great Gabriela Cowperthwaite who has, yet again, brought to light a nail biting, explosive, and essential story,” said Magnolia Pictures co-CEO’s Eamonn Bowles and Dori Begley. “Gabriela’s masterful storytelling in ‘The Grab’ thrillingly opens our eyes about very real, and often unseen, national security and global threats, through the lens of The Center for Investigative Reporting’s startling investigation,” said Courtney Sexton, Participant’s executive vice president, documentary film and television.

Cowperthwaite has worked with many of the parties before. “Blackfish,” which looked at SeaWorld’s treatment of orcas, was produced by CNN Films, where Sexton was a top executive, and released in theaters by Magnolia. “I am thrilled to be aligning with my friends at Magnolia and Participant to bring ‘The Grab’ to audiences, as these are companies that not only have a history.