Halo-8 Letting Animals Out of Their Cages

NEW YORK -- Indie distributor Halo-8 Entertainment has acquired worldwide rights to Curt Johnson's animal-rights documentary "Your Mommy Kills Animals," featuring appearances by Katherine Heigl, Moby, Joe Mantegna, Ben Stein and others.

The film from Indie Genius Prods. takes its cue from an FBI report labeling animal-rights activists as a top terrorist threat and attempts to take a balanced look at the issues surrounding their sometimes violent tactics. In addition to getting stars' views on animal rights, Johnson interviewed young members of the activist group SHAC7, who went on trial after their Web site promoted animal-rights protests.

Johnson was a producer on the 2002 Oscar-winning short docu "Thoth." His upcoming directing projects include the docu "Pets on Your Plate," which follows the quest of a man who alleges that the "food rendering" process takes dead animals and puts them into protein meal fed to livestock people eat.

After a one-week, docu-category Oscar-qualifying run this summer booked by producer-director Johnson before the acquisition, Halo-8 will distribute "Animals" theatrically in major markets in September and on video via WEA's Ryko Filmworks in November.

The deal was negotiated by Johnson with Halo-8 president Matt Pizzolo.