Award Winning, Nominated Atchity Productions!

A  STORY MERCHANT company

The Meg - Awards

2 wins & 5 nominations

 2021

New Zealand Cinematographers Society

Won, Gold Award

Specialised Cinematography

Kina Scollay

Underwater photography

 2019

Golden Trailer Awards

Nominated, Golden Trailer

Best Home Ent Horror/Thriller

Warner Bros. Pictures, Trailer Park

Nominated, Golden Trailer

Best Billboard

 2019

Young Artist Awards

Nominated, Young Artist Award

Best Performance in a Feature Film: Supporting Young Actress

Shuya Sophia Cai

2018

Chinese American Film Festival (C.A.F.F.)

Won, Golden Angel Award

Best Actress

Bingbing Li

Won, Golden Angel Award

Best US-China Co-Production Film

 2018

Golden Trailer Awards

Won, Golden Trailer

Golden Fleece

Warner Bros. Pictures, Trailer Park

 2018

IGN Summer Movie Awards

Nominated, IGN Award

Best Action Movie

2018

New Zealand Cinematographers Society

Won, Gold Award

Specialised Cinematography

Andrew McGeorge

Kennedy Detail  - Awards

1 Nomination

 2011

News & Documentary Emmy Awards

Nominated, Emmy

Outstanding Historical Programming - Long Form

Lisa McCubbin (producer), Kenneth Atchity (executive producer), Gerald S. Blaine (producer), Brooke Runnette (executive producer), Chi-Li Wong (executive producer), Grant Axton (producer), David Garfinkle (executive producer), Jay Renfroe (executive producer), Vince DiPersio (co-executive producer), Liza Maddrey (producer) Discovery Channel

Erased - Awards

1 win & 2 nominations

2015

SOCAN Awards

Won, SOCAN Award

Domestic Feature Film Award

Jeff Danna

 2014 - Jutra Awards

Nominated, Jutra

Best Make-Up (Meilleur Maquillage)

Colleen Quinton

Nominated, Jutra

Best Editing (Meilleur Montage Image)

Dominique Fortin

Hysteria – Awards

2 nominations

2012

Casting Society of America, USA

Nominated, Artios Award

Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Feature - Studio or Independent Comedy

Gaby Kester (casting director)

2011

Rome Film Fest

Nominated, Golden Marc'Aurelio Award

Tanya Wexler

Gosepl Hill – Awards

2 wins

 2009

Nashville Film Festival

Won, Rosetta Miller Perry Award

Giancarlo Esposito

 2008

Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival

Won, Jury Award

Seashell Best of Fest

Giancarlo Esposito

Adam Resurrected - Awards

1 win & 1 nomination

 2009

Valladolid International Film Festival

Nominated, Golden Spike

Best Film

Paul Schrader

 Won, Best Music

Gabriel Yared

Joe Somebody - Awards

1 nomination

2002

Young Artist Awards

Nominated, Young Artist Award

Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actress

Hayden Panettiere

Falling Over Backwards - Awards

4 nominations

1991

Genie Awards

Nominated, Genie

Best Achievement in Sound

Abbey Neidik National Film Board of Canada (NFB)

 Nominated, Genie

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Paul Soles

Nominated, Genie

Best Sound Editing

Diane Le Floc'h, Gudrun Christian, Abbey Neidik, Andy Malcolm, Michele Cook

 

1990

Valladolid International Film Festival

Nominated, Golden Spike

Best Film

Mort Ransen

  

Angels in the Snow - Awards

1 nomination

 2016

Young Artist Awards

Nominated, Young Artist Award

Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries, Special or Pilot - Young Actor

Kolton Stewart

 

The Lost Valentine - Awards

1 win & 6 nominations

 2012

Movie Guide Awards

 Nominated, Grace Award

Most Inspirational Television Acting

Betty White

 Nominated, Grace Award

Most Inspiring TV Program

 Nominated, Grace Award

Most Inspirational Television Acting

Katie McGrath

 Nominated, Grace Award

Most Inspirational Television Acting

Sean Faris

 Won, Faith and Freedom Award

 Television

 2012

Screen Actors Guild Awards

Nominated, Actor

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

Betty White

 

2011

Gold Derby Awards

Nominated, Gold Derby TV Award

TV Movie/Mini Supporting Actress

Betty White

  

Story Merchant has experience in all realms of entertainment placement, from television series, specials, and movies, to studio, mini-major, and independent feature films.

As a producer’s representative, our team analyzes a film’s potential and determines the best distribution channels, whether theatrical, DVD, television, or some combination of the above. With our experience in the international market, we also identify the sales company that best fits an individual film based on our relationships with key executives at dozens of sales companies. Once we identify the best suited sales company, we negotiate all terms of the sales agency agreement to the producer’s and his financer’s best interests.

We focus on securing the most trustworthy distribution avenue that will maximize audience outreach. Our management of the film’s distribution guarantees that the producer retains control of the film’s success.
Contact Ken Atchity for more information.

Jennifer Love Hewitt Betty White and The Lost Valentine

 

The film earned Betty a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor.⁠

Hallmark “Honoring Betty White”

America’s sweetheart Betty White was just several weeks away from celebrating her 100th birthday when she died on New Year’s Eve.

As the world continues to remember the “Golden Girl,” the Hallmark Channel has revealed it will pay tribute to White with a marathon of her work airing on January 17, which would have been her centennial birthday.

In an announcement exclusively reported by Southern Living, Hallmark will host “Honoring Betty White.”

Beginning at midnight on the 17th, the Hallmark Channel will air a 40-episode marathon of “The Golden Girls." Fans will be able to watch curated episodes of the classic show until the 2011 Hallmark movie “The Lost Valentine,” starring White and Jennifer Love Hewitt, airs at 8pm ET/PT. The "GG" marathon will resume following the movie and conclude on January 18 at 5:00 am ET/PT.

Developed for Hallmark, The Lost Valentine originally aired in 2011. Based on a novel by James Michael Pratt, the film is directed by Darnell Martin and stars Betty White alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sean Faris. The film earned White a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor.

The official synopsis for The Lost Valentine reads: "During World War II, Navy Lt. Neil Thomas bids Caroline, his pregnant young wife, farewell at Union Station. Before their son is born, Neil's plane goes down in the Pacific and he's declared missing in action. Caroline is devastated. But love never dies, and for the next 65 years Caroline (Betty White) returns to Union Station on the anniversary of her loss, to salute the memory of her handsome and brave husband."

The marathon includes specially selected episodes of The Golden Girls that highlight Rose’s surprising competitive streak; visits by her St. Olaf relatives; funny career moments from the grief center and assisting consumer reporter Enrique Mas; along with plenty of romance, including boyfriends Dr. Jonathan Newman, Mister Terrific and of course, Miles Webber,” the network said in a statement, per the outlet.

In addition, the Hallmark Channel will also participate in the viral Betty White Challenge by donating to the North Shore Animal League America.

White was an advocate for animal rights and worked closely with many organizations to help get animals adopted and promote more humane treatment of animals.

The Betty White Challenge is a movement on social media where fans encourage others to donate to a local or national animal shelter, organization, or agency in White’s name to celebrate her birthday and the cause closest to her heart.

A report this week confirmed that White died from a stroke. The death certificate listed the cause of death as “a cerebrovascular accident,” which is a loss of blood flow to part of the brain that results in brain tissue damage. It reveals that she suffered the stroke six days before her death.

via Movie web and Audacy

In memory of Betty White

 

At her eightieth birthday celebration, in 2001, at KC’s Leawood-South Country Club, the entire family gathered to celebrate my mother’s endless good spirits and hospitality. Dancing and telling jokes and winking, she reigned over the event like the dowager empress she’d become, wearing her signature red dress. and looking for all the world like Betty White on a good day.

My mother was a force larger than life.  

Oddly enough, I met Betty White because of Mom.

An aspiring novelist and former Mormon bishop named James Michael Pratt sent me a copy of his self-published book, The Last Valentine. I read the description on the back cover and thought it was maybe too romantic even for “Mr. Romance,” as I’d been dubbed during my years in Montreal producing Shades of Love.

But the concept nagged at me, so I sent the book to Mom and asked her to read it.

She called me two days later.

“You must get involved in this book,” she said. “It’s wonderful.”

I asked her for details. Her response was sketchy—she was already becoming forgetful, especially of things she’d read, which is why I’d learned to return her call the minute she reached out to me after a read. But it was clear emotionally: Mom didn’t use must loosely. This was beyond should!

Long story short, I did get involved. My Writers Lifeline company helped Jim perfect the story and my management company sold it, at auction, for a bunch of money to St. Martin’s Press. It became a New York Times bestseller, and led to four or five further bestselling books for Jim.

At one point in his book tour, we converged in KC where Jim was being hosted by Barnes and Noble—and he insisted on meeting Mom. “She’s the one who got this book published,” he said. I certainly wasn’t going to argue with that.

You’d think a New York Times bestseller would have an easy route to the screen. But I knew one lesson by heart: nothing is easy in Hollywood. It took over ten years before Valentine was picked up by Hallmark Hall of Fame. Their president, meeting me over breakfast at the Alameda Plaza overlooking KC’s Country Club Plaza, brought up a ticklish subject. “You know this company will never call a movie ‘The Last Valentine,’” he told me—then tipped his orange juice in a toast.

I laughed, at what I thought was a joke. But it wasn’t. The movie was retitled, “The Lost Valentine,” and starred Jennifer Love Hewitt and Betty.

It was one thing to meet the voluptuous Jennifer Love Hewitt—“Don’t avoid  these,” she scolded our Director of Photography, having checked the replay of a  wedding moment where the camera discreetly hovered above her cleavage line, “I  built my career on these beauties.”  Unleashing the camera, they did a more  revealing take.

But it was meeting Betty White on the set in Atlanta that truly thrilled me, for two reasons. In her red dress, white hair, and feisty countenance, she looked exactly like Mom. And I was given the chance to tell Betty the story of how my mother had gotten this book published and this movie made.

Alas, Mom was no longer around to glory in the moment, or in the Screen Actor's Guild's "Outstanding Performance by an Actor" Award Betty received for our film. 

Excerpt from My Obit: Vol 2: My Multi-Storied Mother, forthcoming 2022.

Revisiting Betty White and The Lost Valentine to NY Times Arts Beat - R.I.P

August 6, 2010, 8:58 am

It’s Friday, So Why Not Talk to Betty White?

By DAVE ITZKOFF

Betty White doesn’t need your approval. She’s such a rock star now that in addition to her regular role on the TV Land comedy “Hot in Cleveland” (which was recently picked up for a second season), she can also accept a recurring guest spot on the NBC series “Community” and call its cast delightful to their faces and no one can stop her. And she will turn down your offer to appear in a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie until you ask again nicely, and then tell you it’s a lovely script, just to let you know who’s boss. And if you tease her sarcastically at a public event, be prepared to face the full force of her endearing rejoinders.

ArtsBeat was recently offered the opportunity to speak with Ms. White about her work on “Community,” her perpetually busy schedule, and the risks of overexposure, and we were too afraid to say no. These are excerpts from that conversation.

Q.

You’re able to juggle this at the same time as your work on “Hot in Cleveland”?

A.

Right, but we’re on hiatus now — we don’t go back until the 1st of November. That’s something lovely to look forward to, because the girls are so great, and the chemistry between them is so wonderful. But in the meantime, I’ve got a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie to do in Atlanta.

Q.

What’s it about?

A.

It’s a lovely script that was sent — it’s two weeks in Atlanta, and I always try very hard not to go out of town. I try to stay here [California] as much as I can. Once in a while, like a “Saturday Night Live” thing, I had to go back for. But I keep it down to a minimum. So I turned it down, because of the being out of town. But they made it as easy for me as they can, and I get to come home on the weekend, between the two weeks. I’ll come in on Saturday and go back to Atlanta on Sunday to go to work Monday morning. So I was able to say O.K. The name of it is “Lost Valentine,” and it’s a love story. I do a lot of supposed comedy work — I mean, I hope it’s comedy work. This one is a love story so it’s a nice change of pace for me.

Q.

Do you get a love interest in the film?

A.

No, in this case, it’s a love that I’ve lost. The reason it appealed to me so much, it’s a deep, deep love story, like the one I had with my beloved Allen Ludden.

Happy Birthday to the Incomporable Betty White!

 It was an honor, a pleasure and great fun to work with you on The Lost Valentine for Hallmark Hall of Fame. 

Love Romance? Watch The Lost Valentine ... streaming on Feeln.

During World War II, Navy Lt. Neil Thomas bids Caroline, his pregnant young wife, farewell at Union Station. Unfortunately, Neil's plane goes down in the Pacific and he is declared missing in action. Caroline is devastated. But love never dies, and for the next 65 years Caroline returns to Union Station on the anniversary of her loss, to salute the memory of her handsome and brave husband. Eventually, a TV journalist learns of the touching story and sets out to investigate just what happened to Neil 65 years earlier. As she finds out more about Caroline and her family, she resolves issues in her own life that have kept her from finding love herself. Watch it now!

The Lost Valentine to Re-Air on Hallmark Channel

The Award-winning movie "The Lost Valentine"  to air on   Saturday, January 26, 2013 9/8  c   The Hallmark Channel

"The Lost Valentine," the award-winning, critically  acclaimed movie starring Betty White and Jennifer Love Hewitt, will air on Saturday, January 26, 2013 at 9/8 c on The Hallmark Channel.  The movie is based on the best-selling novel, "The Last Valentine" by author James Michael Pratt. In the film, a young and cynical female journalist (Jennifer Love Hewitt) learns love may transcend trials and time as she discovers a story that will change her life forever. When war separates lovers on their wedding anniversary Feb. 14, 1944 at LA Union Train Station, Navy pilot Neil Thomas makes a promise he isn't sure he can keep - to return to the train station safe by their next anniversary. For sixty years Caroline Thomas (Betty White) keeps her promise by waiting at the train station until her missing in action husband can finally keep his with the "lost valentine." The message and meaning shows romance and love can be real; worth fighting, and maybe even dying for.   The film was a collaborative effort between Hallmark Hall of Fame in Association with Paulist Productions, Atchity Entertainment International and Ridini Entertainment Corporation.  It first premiered on Sunday, January 30, 2011, on the CBS  Television Network as a Hallmark Hall of Fame World Movie Premiere. Billy Magnussen and Meghann Fahy in "The Lost Valentine" The night it premiered, the movie was Hallmark Hall of Fame's most highly rated movie in four years, and won CBS-TV the night with over 15 million viewers tuning in. WATCH it Saturday, January 26, 2013, 9/8 c on The Hallmark Channel!  L to R:  Betty White, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sean Faris in "The Lost Valentine. PURCHASE "THE LOST VALENTINE" TODAY! "The Lost Valentine" is one of the most loved Hallmark Hall of Fame movies.  Buy the Gold Crown Collector's Edition today at Hallmark.com     The film is also available at Amazon.com.  GET THE BOOK by best-selling author James Michael Pratt at Amazon.com!

The television winner of the Faith & Freedom Awards Goes to “The Lost Valentine!”

Christian Oscars Honor Family Friendly Films

Written by Raven Clabough

On Friday, February 10, the winners of the 20th Annual Faith and Values Awards were announced at the Universal Hilton Hotel in Hollywood. A number of worthy films and television programs received prizes for their positive elements from patriotism to family values.

The Movieguide Faith and Values Awards are sponsored by the Christian Film & Television Commission and Movieguide, founded by Dr. Ted Baehr. The glittering event, also dubbed the “Christian Oscars” attracted a number of Hollywood executives, producers, writers, and directors, and major celebrities including Joe Montegna, Kevin Sorbo, James Patrick Stuart, and Pat Boone.

Congratulations to Betty White for her SAG nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for Lost Valentine

Sag Awards Air January 29th 8 pm on TNT