EXCLUSIVE: Kino Lorber has acquired North American distribution rights to Shari & Lamb Chop, a documentary about children’s TV trailblazer Shari Lewis who created a sensation with her cuddly and feisty sock puppet Lamb Chop.
Lisa D’Apolito (Love, Gilda) directed the film, which made its world premiere at DOC NYC. Kino Lorber plans to open the film theatrically on July 18, followed by a digital, educational, and home video release. Shari & Lamb Chop is produced by White Horse Pictures and MoJo Global Arts and presented by Concord Originals and Olive Hill Media in association with The 51 Fund, Carlene Laughlin and Chicago Media Project.
“Before Fred Rogers and Jim Henson, there was Shari Lewis, a children’s television pioneer whose whimsical characters and ebullient spirit have guided generations of children as they came of age,” notes a release. “Raised in the Bronx by a proud feminist mother and a professor father who moonlighted as Peter Pan the Magic Man, Shari became a multitalented dancer, singer, and magician. But when an injury sidelined her dance aspirations, she channeled her creativity into a passion for ventriloquism, creating the now beloved sock puppet characters Charlie Horse, Hush Puppy and, of course, Lamb Chop.”
Shari Lewis, with Lamb Chop and Charlie Horse, raising funds for the Rhode Island Hosptial Trust Company, circa early 1960s
Everett Collection
The release continues, “From her early years of TV success to the crush of her show’s cancellation to her 1990s comeback in her 60s, Lisa D’Apolito’s heartfelt doc charts the life, loves, and career hits and misses of the spunky perfectionist whose talent and perseverance stand as a testament to women’s power and forever changed the landscape of children’s entertainment.”
The acquisition deal was negotiated by Kino Lorber VP of Acquisitions Karoliina Dwyer and Wesley Adams, VP, Production & Distribution, and Sophia Dilley, EVP, for Concord Originals.
“There’s no shortage of Lamb Chop love in her illuminating film, but Lisa D’Apolito has gone beyond a warm embrace to more deeply investigate Shari Lewis’ exceptional gifts and career,” said Richard Lorber, Chairman and CEO of Kino Lorber. “The voices she projected through her beloved critters echo the multiple dimensions of Lewis’ own personality and creative challenges as a performer and media pioneer. Hers was an entrepreneurial breakthrough in a male dominated television industry, blazing a path for other media innovators but with few joining the ranks of Lamb Chop as icons of quality family entertainment. We cherish the chance to shine a new light on the legacy of Shari and Lamb Chop for her loyal fans as well as new audiences who will welcome this treat.”
Shari Lewis appears with Lamb Chop on ‘The Dean Martin Show’
Everett Collection
In a statement, D’Apolito commented, “Shari Lewis was a force of creativity and resilience. She believed deeply in the intelligence and imagination of children. I’m so excited that audiences will be able to experience Shari’s incredible story. Her strength, her heart, and the joy she shared with generations are exactly what we need right now.”
Shari Lewis’s career began in the early 1950s, close to the dawn of television. Over the decades, she won a dozen Emmy Awards, a Peabody, a Kennedy Center Honor, and the Monte Carlo Prize for the World’s Best Television Variety Show, among many other awards.
Director Lisa D’Apolito, Mallory Lewis and Lamb Chop attend the ‘Shari & Lamb Chop’ premiere on November 11, 2023 in New York
John Nacion/Getty Images
The documentary is produced with the full cooperation of the Shari Lewis estate, through her daughter Mallory Lewis who continues her mother’s legacy performing with Lamb Chop regularly across the U.S. Lewis said of the film, “Lamb Chop and I are thrilled that the true story of the ‘multi-faceted real-life woman’ (our mom) Shari Lewis will finally be shared with her fans, young and old.”
In addition to DOC NYC, Shari & Lamb Chop has screened at festivals around the world including the Raindance Film Festival in the UK, the Bentonville Film Festival in Arkansas, Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and the Sun Valley Film Festival in Idaho, among others.
Shari & Lamb Chop is produced by White Horse’s Cassidy Hartmann (The Apollo) and Nicholas Ferrall (The Beatles: Eight Days A Week), MoJo’s Morris Ruskin (Murder in a Small Town), Douglas Warner (Paul Rodriguez: The Here & Wow), and D’Apolito. White Horse’s Nigel Sinclair (The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart) and Jeanne Elfant Festa (Pavarotti) executive produced. The film is also executive produced by Bob Valentine, Sophia Dilley and Wesley Adams for Concord Originals; Joseph Mellicker for MoJo Global Arts; Jordan Walker-Perlman; Michael Cho, Mimi Rode and Tim Lee for Olive Hill Media; Caitlin Gold, Naomi McDougall Jones and Lindsay Lanzillotta for The 51 Fund; Carlene C. Laughlin; Steve Cohen and Paula Froehle for Chicago Media Project; and Benjamin J. Murphy. White Horse’s Robert Dietz and Concord’s Scott Pascucci and Charles Hopkins served as Co-Executive Producers.
“Wes [Adams] and I are thrilled to help partner this wonderful film with the great team at Kino Lorber,” stated Sophia Dilley, EVP Concord Originals. “They are the perfect partner to bring this film to audiences in theaters and beyond.”
Kino Lorber
Kino Lorber recently acquired U.S. rights to Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, Shoshanna Stern’s documentary about the Oscar-winning actress, which premiered at Sundance. In March, Zeitgeist in association with Kino Lorber acquired A Photographic Memory, Rachel Elizabeth Seed’s award-winning documentary. Kino Lorber earned an Oscar nomination earlier this year for Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, directed by Johan Grimonprez and produced by Rémi Grellety and Daan Milius.
