Jesse Eisenberg-Produced Documentary ‘The World Before Your Feet’ Finds Distribution (EXCLUSIVE)
By Dave McNary
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Greenwich Entertainment has acquired Jeremy Workman’s documentary “The World Before Your Feet,” and will release the film theatrically later this year, Variety has learned exclusively.
“The World Before Your Feet,” which had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival, was directed by Workman and executive produced by Jesse Eisenberg. The documentary follows Matt Green, who for six years has walked every block of every street in New York City in a journey of over 8,000 miles.
“Jeremy has found in Matt Green, a kind of contemporary Thoreau, and in the process of documenting Matt’s quest has made one of the most poignant and inspiring city symphonies in documentary history,” said Greenwich co-managing director Edward Arentz.
“Jesse and I are thrilled and honored that Greenwich Entertainment will be releasing ‘The World Before Your Feet’ and helping audiences discover Matt’s unique journey,” said Workman. “With the passion that Edward and his team have for this film, we know this is the ideal partnership.”
Eisenberg told Variety in an interview at SXSW that he was contacted by Workman to see if he’d back this story. “I’ve shepherded along projects that I’ve acted in and turned down producing roles because they just seem superfluous,” Eisenberg said. “This was a different situation. In my opinion, it just felt like being a public champion for something.”
“I walked with Matt Green. His knowledge about the specifics of New York City is so unbelievable, whether it be why a fire hydrant is this color to why graffiti on this street matches graffiti in Green Point, Brooklyn, because the artist has a cousin and they do a similar tag,” he added. “One of the points Matt makes in the movie is you could live on 16th street and never see what happened on 17th street. It’s because of the concentration.”
The Film Sales Company’s Andrew Herwitz and Lucas Verga, on behalf of the filmmakers, negotiated the deal with Greenwich’s Arentz and Jen Mecum of Dembitzer & Dembitzer.
