Paladin has acquired the Sea Studios Foundation film Otter 501, which will have its world premiere at the Santa Barbara Film Festival Thursday. The indie company plans a spring release.
Blending documentary and narrative techniques, Otter details the true story of an orphaned baby otter who is rescued on the Northern California coast and nurtured first by humans and then by a surrogate sea otter mother. Documenting the otter's journey is a young aspiring biologist who posts videos to her Facebook account.
"501 is one of the more adorable creatures we will see on screen this year," says Paladin president Mark Urman. "We are thrilled to be working with Sea Studios Foundation on this wonderful project, and their extensive relationships within the marine wildlife, conservation, and aquarium communities will allow us to build upon many of the innovative grass-roots marketing techniques we employed so successfully last year with Tom Shadyac's I Am and the similarly themed documentary The Whale."
Sea Studios Foundation has produced the series Shape Of Life and Strange Days on Planet Earth.
Paladin will next release Boy in New York March 2 and the dance-themed romance Musical Chairs in New York March 23.