David Gordon Green, Jody Hill And Danny McBride Launch Rough House Pictures

Mandate Pictures have signed a two-year first-look deal with David Gordon Green, Jody Hill and Danny McBride to produce high concept comedies with their brand of humor under a new label – Rough House Pictures.  The trio have been making movies together since college, where they all attended the North Carolina School of the Arts. Green says the aim is to produce a slate of comedy projects that are "a little left of center." Read the full press release after the jump.

DAVID GORDON GREEN, JODY HILL AND DANNY MCBRIDE TEAM UP WITH MANDATE PICTURES TO LAUNCH ROUGH HOUSE PICTURES

Matt Reilly to Head Production of New Comedy Label and will be a Participant in the Business

Los Angeles (December 10, 2009) – Mandate Pictures announced today it has signed a two-year first-look deal with David Gordon Green, Jody Hill and Danny McBride to produce high concept comedies with their brand of humor. Combining their creative filmmaking with Mandate's financing and producing expertise, ROUGH HOUSE PICTURES seeks to establish itself as a hub for exciting and bold comedic voices. The co-venture will be dedicated to financing, developing and producing feature length comedies. David Gordon Green shares, "Our aim is to bust out with a slate of comedy projects that are a little left of center, but our target is the bull's-eye."

Matt Reilly will be segueing from his current post as Vice President of Production, Warner Bros. Pictures, to join ROUGH HOUSE as head of production and will be a participant in the business. While at Warner Bros., Reilly collaborated with writer/director Jody Hill and actor Danny McBride on Observe and Report that was released in April.

David Gordon Green continues, "Danny and Jody and I have been making movies with our friends since we were in college together. Rough House is an opportunity to expand the family and the ambition. The beauty of collaborating with guys like [Matt] Reilly and [Nathan] Kahane is that as a collective, I feel like we could all sit together creatively at the corporate table, have a blast at an old lady's tea party, or kick some ass in a bar room brawl. Not a bad posse to have your back."

Jody Hill, David Gordon Green and Danny McBride all went to the North Carolina School of the Arts and lived on the same dormitory floor their first year although Green is one year older. McBride saw Green's first short film called Will You Lather Up My Rough House and that was that in terms of his admiration for Green. McBride was the second unit director on Green's feature debut George Washington and McBride had a supporting role in Green's next film All the Real Girls, which won the 2003 Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. McBride first gained industry awareness with this role; however, it was when he returned in 2006 with the Sundance Film Festival smash hit comedy The Foot Fist Way that he became a known name in Hollywood and desired by its top producers and directors. McBride, who starred and co-wrote the film with Jody Hill and Ben Best (Superbad), caught the attention of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay after it debuted at Sundance, under their banner Gary Sanchez Production, and the film was later released by Paramount Vantage. McBride is currently starring in HBO's East Bound and Down, which he and Hill co-created, co-write and produce together. Hill directed the pilot and final episode. Green has also directed episodes. The second season for HBO will begin production in Spring 2010. Green's film Your Highness starring McBride, James Franco and Natalie Portman, recently wrapped production in Northern Ireland and is slated for an October 2010 release by Universal Pictures.

David Gordon Green, Jody Hill and Danny McBride are represented by CAA. Matt Reilly is represented by attorney Jason Sloane of Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern. Rob McEntegart and Dan Freedman brokered the deal on behalf of the company.