Los Angeles – Metan Development Group (Metan) has secured the exclusive distribution rights for theatrical, television and online for the hit documentary Linsanity, the life story of basketball sensation Jeremy Lin, for the territory of Mainland China. The documentary launched exclusively online on IQiyi, China’s leading advertiser supported online television and movie portal via its sub-brand PPS Video. After only two weeks, the film has garnered over four million views.
Directed by Evan Leong, Linsanity chronicles the meteoric rise of the basketball phenomenon beginning before his days at Harvard, from where he graduated with a degree in economics and played with the Golden State Warriors. The documentary, produced by 408 Films, DefyAgency, Arowana Films and Endgame Entertainment, debuted to rave reviews at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
“Jeremy Lin’s inspirational story has a definite global appeal,” said Gordon Chu, Vice President of Business Development, Metan.“Of course, being the first American-born NBA player of either Chinese or Taiwan descent to achieve such incredible success in the NBA will be interest to his fans in China, as well as the incredible journey he took to reach his goals. We’re delighted to bring ‘Linsanity’ to audiences in Mainland China.”
He adds, “Jeremy Lin’s story is one that resonates and is relatable to everyone in China – old and young, male and female. It’s just a great story that everyone is passionate about.”
Producer Brian Yang comments, “When we started this project, Jeremy wasn’t even in the NBA. We didn’t know where we were going to wind up and now for us to be debuting the film in time for Chinese New Year in a country where hundreds of millions of basketball fans love him, it’s all very exciting.”
Jeremy Lin’s story is improbable; Hollywood couldn’t script this for the absurdity of being “too unrealistic.” Jeremy’s career is the antithesis of NBA convention. He grew up as a skinny Asian American kid in Palo Alto, California, home to some of Silicon Valley’s most successful technology companies. Each seemingly unconventional turn became the foundation for the next opportunity — each success and challenge became a building block for bigger and better things, weaving together an impossible story that could only have ever happened that exact way.
Basketball superstar Yao Ming, who paved the way and passed the torch to Lin, also appears in the film.
Before the Linsanity phenomenon, the filmmakers documented the struggling basketball player and the wild turn of events he was experiencing. After Linsanity hit, they captured a determined athlete whose fans wanted to find out, “What makes this man tick?”
