Why So Blu?

SANTA MONICA, CA (December 1, 2014) – Dear Movie Lover: If you’re looking for a comedy that’s fresh, smart and “non-stop fun” (Rolling Stone), you’ve found it! Dear White People arrives on Digital HD and On Demand January 20^th and follows on Blu-ray™ (plus Digital HD) and DVD (plus Digital) on February 3^rd from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Starring Tyler James Williams (TV’s “Everybody Hates Chris,” AMC’s “The Walking Dead”), Tessa Thompson (upcoming Selma, For Colored Girls), Kyle Gallner (upcoming American Sniper, A Nightmare on Elm Street), Teyonah Parris (TV’s “Mad Men,” They Came Together) Brandon Bell (TV’s “Hollywood Heights,” TV’s “Switched at Birth”), Malcolm Barrett (Peeples, The Hurt Locker) and Dennis Haysbert (TV’s “24,” TV’s “The Unit”), the film was the winner of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival’s Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent. The critically acclaimed, box-office success, Dear White People is the feature film debut from writer/director Justin Simien, and earned him a spot on Variety‘s annual “10 Directors to Watch” list.

Loosely based on Simien’s own experiences as an undergraduate at a predominantly white university, Dear White People is “a smart, hilarious satire of the Obama age” (Indiewire) and is “the very definition of a conversation-starter” (Los Angeles Times). The provocative subject matter found a voice on Twitter when Simien launched a guerilla marketing campaign and set up a @DearWhitePeople Twitter feed that actually served as a voice for his main character in the film, Sam White. With word of mouth and social media, the guerilla marketing campaign went viral with a concept trailer on YouTube which eventually led the film to be successfully crowdfunded on Indiegogo.

A hilarious and thought-provoking satire about race relations, Dear White Peopleis the story of an eclectic group of black students trying to navigate a predominantly white Ivy League school. Dealing with the college’s traditions and cliques is hard enough. But after a sequence of events including a controversial student election, an out-of-control party and the arrival of a reality TV producer, once-quiet Winchester University becomes a hotbed of conflict.

Bonus materials on Digital HD, Blu-ray and DVD include deleted scenes, outtakes, a “making of” featurette that shares the journey of how the concept trailer for Dear White People became a reality, a PSA Web Series, plus additional provocative video content originally created to promote the film online. Also included is an extended version of Caught A Ghost’s “Get Your Life” music video featuring Tessa Thompson and her longtime collaborator Jesse Nolan. The official video for the song, featured on the movie soundtrack, was helmed by film director Justin Simien and reunites the Dear White People cast as they party together to the upbeat electro-pop song. The Dear White People Blu-ray and DVD will exclusively feature two audio commentaries – one with director Justin Simien and one with Simien and the cast – and will be available for the suggested retail price of $24.99 and $19.98, respectively.

BLU-RAY/DVD/DIGITAL HD SPECIAL FEATURES*

• “The Making of Dear White People” featurette
• “Get Your Life” Music Video (Extended Version) by Caught a Ghost
• Deleted Scenes
• Outtakes
• Racism Insurance Skits
• The More You Know About Black People (a PSA Web Series)
• DVRS App: Black Friends When You Need Them
• LEAKED: Banned Winchester U Diversity
• Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Justin Simien, and Cast Tessa Thompson, Tyler James Williams, Teyonah Parris and Brandon Bell (Blu-ray/DVD Exclusive)
• Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Justin Simien (Blu-ray/DVD Exclusive)

*Subject to change.