New Award-Winning Road Trip Comedy ‘ELIJAH’S ASHES’ Makes East Coast Premiere at Manhattan Film Festival on April 15, 2016

ELIJAH’S ASHES recently made its world premiere at the Los Angeles International Film Festival Awards (LAIFFA) earning three top awards, including Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Ryan Barton-Grimley). The film is also currently in the running for a Jury Award at the Los Angeles CineFest. ELIJAH’S ASHES hit the festival circuit winning a pre-release ‘Award of Recognition’ from the Hollywood International Moving Pictures Film Festival (HIMPFF).

ELIJAH’S ASHES follows Lawrence Shaw (Schneider), a run of the mill guy who just can't get accepted for who he is. He's not straight enough for his job or stereotypically gay enough for his boyfriend. To make things worse, his father’s last dying wish lands him on a road trip with his extremely homophobic half-brother Kevin (Barton-Grimley). This heroically dumb journey of brotherly love and acceptance begs the age old question: can you truly accept someone else when you can't even accept yourself?

Barton-Grimley shares, “We’re absolutely thrilled with how positively audiences responded to Elijah’s Ashes ‘World Premiere’ at LAIFFA. The laughs just kept rolling in! So we can’t wait to share it with East Coast audiences at The Manhattan Film Festival!”

Barton-Grimley first gained industry attention for his 2010 directorial debut of indie thriller, The Truth, starring John Heard, Brendan Sexton III and Daniel Baldwin, and released by Gravitas Ventures and Showtime. ELIJAH’S ASHES was produced under his RBG Films banner and is repped by Circus Road Films.

Barton-Grimley and Schneider previously teamed-up to create their infamous two-man improv team Double Pistols and comedy channel Catnuts.com, which hosts their web series Killer Friend and Lexus Man. Born in Zimbabwe and a graduate of UCLA, Barton-Grimley also recently produced and starred in the indie features Repatriation and Hawk & Rev: Vampire Slayers, which he also directed. Schneider, a Los Angeles native, graduated with Honors in Acting and Musical Theatre from Guild-ford School of Acting in England and was awarded a ‘Gold with Distinction’ from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and performs weekly at Second City Hollywood.

ELIJAH’S ASHES

Manhattan Film Festival

Screening Date/Time: April 15, 2016 at 3:00pm – special Q&A with filmmakers to follow

Location: Cinema Village, 22 E. 12th St. New York, NY 10003