Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) announced on Friday that it has acquired all worldwide rights, excluding the Philippines, to the film Yellow Rose, directed by Filipino-American Diane Paragas in her narrative feature debut.
Yellow Rose is a timely story about a Filipino teen from a small Texas town who fights to pursue her dreams as a country music performer while facing the threat of deportation. The film stars two-time Tony Award nominee Eva Noblezada (Hadestown, Miss Saigon) in her feature film debut, Tony Award winner Lea Salonga (Once on this Island, Miss Saigon), Princess Punzalan (Mula Sa Puso), Dale Watson (Friday Night Lights), Gustavo Gomez (The Walking Dead), Libby Villari (Boyhood), and Liam Booth (Ghosts Never Sleep).
Noblezada received her most recent Tony nomination for her portrayal of Eurydice in Hadestown, which won eight Tony awards including Best Musical. She received her first nomination for portraying Kim in the revival of Miss Saigon. Salonga won the Tony Award for her portrayal of the same role in the original production of Miss Saigon.
“Yellow Rose has been a labor of passion for over 15 years and I’m thrilled that we can now share this very relevant story with the world,” says Paragas. “We have the added honor of representing the real experiences of Filipino Americans, Asian Americans, and all immigrants seeking a better life in America.”
Yellow Rose features original songs developed for the film, written and composed by Watson, Paragas, Noblezada, and Thia Megia. The film is written by Diane Paragas, Annie Howell, and Celena Cipriaso, based on a story written by Paragas and Andy Bienen.
The film premiered at this year’s Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival where it received the Grand Jury Award and the Breakout Performance Award for Noblezada’s outstanding performance. Already having won a total of five Grand Jury Awards, the film is scheduled to screen at Austin Film Festival Oct. 28 as well as the Hawaii International Film Festival in November.
Yellow Rose, an ABS-CBN Cinematografo Originals seed grand winner in 2017, will be distributed in theaters in the Philippines by ABS-CBN, the country’s leading media and entertainment organization.
Diane Paragas is managed by LBI Entertainment and is represented by Morris Yorn Barnes & Levine.