ABRAMORAMA ACQUIRES NORTH AMERICAN DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS FOR MAKE WORK

A CLOSE-UP LOOK INSIDE THE CREATIVE PROCESS AT THE NEW YORK CHOREOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE OPENING NATIONWIDE IN THEATERS ON MARCH 5, 2027

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, October 27, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — AB2 Media Group and ABRAMORAMA announced today its acquisition of North American distribution rights to MAKE WORK, an intimate documentary commissioned by the New York Choreographic Institute (the Institute) and directed by two-time Emmy-nominated filmmakers Linda Saffire and Adam Schlesinger (Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan) and produced by Saffire, Schlesinger and Adrian Danchig-Waring, for a North American theatrical release beginning March 5, 2027. The film world premiered at the 2026 San Francisco Dance Film Festivaland will have a premiere festival screening at the upcoming DOCNYC film festival

“We’ve always been drawn to the moments audiences never get to see,” said co-directors Linda Saffire and Adam Schlesinger. “With Make Work, we wanted to sit in the room while a ballet is being born, when ideas are fragile, when dancers and choreographers are taking real risks together, and when failure is part of the process. What we found was an art form deeply rooted in Balanchine’s legacy and fiercely committed to reinventing itself. These choreographers are asking what ballet can be, and who it can be for, and we hope the film lets audiences feel what it takes to answer that question.”

Set inside the studios and stages of The Institute and NYCB, Make Work offers rare, intimate access to the creative process behind contemporary ballet. The film follows four choreographers, Harrison Ball, Sarah Foster-Sproull, Caili Quan and Houston Thomas, as they develop new work with NYCB dancers, revealing the pressure, experimentation, collaboration and uncertainty that take place before a ballet reaches the stage.

With only two weeks to create original work during the Institute’s residencies, the choreographers navigate the delicate balance between honoring ballet’s traditions and pushing against its boundaries. Rehearsals become experimental laboratories where ideas are trailed, refined and sometimes abandoned, offering audiences a view of choreography as an evolving process rather than simply a finished product.

“For more than two decades, New York City Ballet has been my home, and the studio has been where I’ve learned the most about what it means to be an artist,” said Adrian Danchig-Waring, producer of Make Work and Artistic Director of the New York Choreographic Institute. “The Institute exists to give choreographers the time, space and trust to experiment, and to fail, and that is where the future of ballet is being written. Make Work honors that process and the courageous artists who are shaping ballet’s next chapter.”

Interwoven throughout the film are reflections from leading choreographers Kyle Abraham, Lar Lubovitch, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky, Pam Tanowitz and Christopher Wheeldon, who share perspectives on their creative practices and the enduring influence of George Balanchine on New York City Ballet and the evolution of ballet itself.

At the center of Make Work is the New York Choreographic Institute. Founded in 2000, the Institute was created to nurture choreographers at all stages of their careers to help shape the future of ballet. As it marks 26 years of supporting choreographic development, now under the leadership of Danchig-Waring and Managing Director Sarah Marcus, the Institute continues in Balanchine’s spirit of radical innovation to explore how artists can evolve what ballet is and who it is for.

“Make Work gives audiences a rare and intimate window into the creative process at one of the world’s most influential ballet institutions,” said Karol Martesko-Fenster, CEO of AB2 Media Group / Abramorama, and Damon G. Smith, SVP of Business Growth and Creative Strategy. “The film captures something universal about making art — the uncertainty, the risk, the collaboration and ultimately the courage required to create something that has never existed before.”

Saffire and Schlesinger are award-winning documentary filmmakers whose work has been recognized at Sundance and major festivals around the world. Together, they previously co-directed and produced Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan, which premiered at the New York Film Festival and was released by Netflix, and Sporting Dreams. They also co-produced Smash His Camera, which won Best Director at the Sundance Film Festival. Saffire’s credits include acclaimed films and series for HBO, Netflix, Disney, and Al Jazeera, often centered on performance, power, and representation. Schlesinger’s producing credits include Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, which received the Sundance Special Jury Prize and was shortlisted for an Academy Award, as well as Page One: Inside the New York Times and God Grew Tired of Us, winner of both the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

Danchig-Waring joined New York City Ballet in 2003 and was promoted to principal dancer in 2013. During his more than 24 years with the company, he has performed an extensive repertory spanning works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and contemporary choreographers. He took his final bow with NYCB during the special Adrian Danchig-Waring Farewell Performance on October 18, 2026.

ABRAMORAMA has continued its streak of successful releases with titles including Rory Kennedy’s The Trial of Alec Baldwin; Alex Gibney’s Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie; Ken Cole’s Never Stop Chasing, the first documentary to secure a coveted nationwide theatrical release in AMC theaters during the summer months; award-winning filmmaker Ivy Meeropol’s Ask E. Jean; Billy Preston: That’s The Way God Planned It, which opened at Film Forum in February 2026 with the #1 per-screen average of the weekend; and The Last Class, the Robert Reich documentary that became the #5 highest-grossing documentary of 2025 and was held over for multiple weeks due to popular demand, selling out screenings nationwide.

Earlier this year, the company partnered with Sobey Road Entertainment, National Geographic and Disney+ on Werner Herzog’s Ghost Elephants, which launched with a coast-to-coast theatrical screening event and live Q&A simulcast to more than 115 theaters before streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. Other notable releases include 2DIE4, the company’s first IMAX-exclusive feature; Benjamin Flaherty’s Shuffle and Alexis Lloyd’s Group – both New York Times Critics’ Picks – and Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere, the documentary about the legendary photojournalist executive produced by Michael Rosenberg, Sid Ganis and Rob Friedman.

MAKE WORK (United States, 95mins, English). Abramorama Presents A Got The Shot Films Production “Make Work” Featuring Dancers of New York City Ballet. Music by Philip Sheppard. Edited by Anne Barliant. Director of Photography Claudia Raschke, ACS. Executive Producer Laura Johnson. Produced By Linda Saffire, Adam Schlesinger and Adrian Danchig-Waring. Directed by Linda Saffire and Adam Schlesinger For more info visit www.makeworkfilm.com An Abramorama North American Release.

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About Got The Shot Films
Got The Shot Films develops and produces nonfiction films across all media, with a focus on compelling, character-driven stories that entertain, inspire, and resonate. From world-renowned artists to young people and adults discovering their passions, we explore stories that reveal the depth of the human experience and leave a lasting impression. We believe audiences are drawn to characters they can relate to, empathize with, or root for, and that emotional connection is what drives a film’s impact. Rooted in the spirit of independent filmmaking, Got The Shot Films seeks out stories that challenge perspectives, illuminate the human condition, and endure, works that reflect the complexity of our world and spark meaningful conversation.

About the New York Choreographic Institute
Founded in 2000, New York Choreographic Institute is New York City Ballet’s hub of creativity dedicated to cultivating artists working to evolve and expand what ballet is, and who it is for.

Through dynamic programs and partnerships, the Institute invests in choreographers at all stages of their careers through long-term relationships and holistic support. Prioritizing process over product, the program provides space, time, and resources that nurture experimentation and risk-taking. Over the last 26 years, the Institute has built a network of more than 130 choreographers in collaboration with an ever-growing community of interdisciplinary artists and institutional partners, with a commitment to increasing public engagement and expanding access to ballet for the benefit of the broader dance ecosystem.

Led by Adrian Danchig-Waring and propelled by the Company’s spirit of radical innovation, the Institute aspires to be one of the leading forums advancing the future of ballet.

About Adrian Danchig-Waring
Adrian Danchig-Waring was born in San Francisco, California. He began his dance training at the age of 11 at Dance Theatre Seven with David Roxander. He entered the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, in the fall of 2001.

In October 2002 he became an apprentice with New York City Ballet, and in June 2003 he joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet. In February of 2009 he was promoted to soloist and became a principal in February 2013. He is now the full-time Artistic Director of the New York Choreographic Institute.

About Sarah Marcus
Sarah Marcus is the Senior Director, Education and Engagement at New York City Ballet and Managing Director of New York Choreographic Institute. From 2009 to 2024, she served as the Director of Education and Community Engagement at the Mark Morris Dance Group, where she led programs reaching 25,000 people annually and developed initiatives in inclusion and workforce development. Sarah currently serves as an advisory board member of the Museum, Arts, and Culture Access Consortium (MAC). Committed to her role as a teaching artist in the studio, she continues to teach on occasion in MMDG’s Dance for PD^® program as well as company class at Mark Morris Dance Group and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. A former professional dancer with Oakland Ballet Company and others, Sarah holds a B.S. from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. She lives in Forest Hills, Queens, with her husband and two children.

About New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is one of the foremost dance companies in the world, with an unparalleled active repertory of more than 150 works—most of them created for NYCB—many of which are considered modern masterpieces. The Company was established in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and arts aficionado Lincoln Kirstein at the City Center of Music and Drama, and quickly became known for pure neo-classicism, which resonated with modern audiences. In 1949, Jerome Robbins joined the Company as associate artistic director and, with Balanchine and many guest choreographers, created a varied repertory that expanded each season. In 1964 NYCB moved to its current home at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater (formerly the New York State Theater), where it grew into one of the world’s great dance companies. NYCB continues to be inspired by its founders who envisioned an authentically American expression of ballet with a company that reflects the rich cultural diversity of our city and nation. Today, the Company has over 90 dancers, a 62-member orchestra, an official school (the School of American Ballet), an institute for choreography (the New York Choreographic Institute), and an annual 21-week season in New York. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford, Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan, and Executive Director Katherine Brown, NYCB remains dedicated to its primary objectives: to preserve the ballets, dance aesthetic, and standards of excellence created and established by its founders; to develop new work that draws on the talents of contemporary choreographers and composers and speaks to the time in which it is made; and to make ballet accessible to the widest possible public through touring, education programs, the creative use of media, and other outreach efforts.

About AB2 Media Group / ABRAMORAMA
AB2 Media Group (AB2) provides best-in-class strategic advisory and rights management services to intellectual property stakeholders, including acclaimed filmmakers, major networks, premier record labels, digital platforms and high-profile artists. ABRAMORAMA, the theatrical releasing division of AB2, is a preeminent global distribution and marketing partner for nonfiction, narrative, sports/adventure, science and music films and is recognized for the consistent high quality of its work.

Upcoming films include Alex Gibney’s Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie and Rory Kennedy’s The Trail of Alec Baldwin. ABRAMORAMA has continued its streak of successful releases, with titles including Never Stop Chasing, a Dolby Vision/Dolby Atmos profile of celebrity storm chaser Reed Timmer that landed a coveted release in AMC theaters nationwide during the summer blockbuster season; award winning filmmaker Ivy Meeropol’s Ask E. Jean, held over at the IFC Center for 5 weeks; Billy Preston: That’s The Way God Planned It, which opened at Film Forum in February 2026 with the #1 per-screen average for the weekend; and the Robert Reich docu-portrait The Last Class, the #5 highest-grossing documentary of 2025, held over 12 weeks at the Quad in NYC due to popular demand, selling out screenings nationwide. Earlier this year the company partnered with Sobey Road Entertainment, National Geographic and Disney+ on the theatrical release of Werner Herzog’s Ghost Elephants, which launched with a coast-to-coast screening event and live Q&A simulcast to more than 115 theaters before streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. Other notable releases include 2DIE4, the company’s first IMAX exclusive feature, as well as Benjamin Flaherty’s Shuffle and Alexis Lloyd’s Group – both New York Times Critics’ Picks – and Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere, the documentary on the legendary photojournalist executive produced by Michael Rosenberg, Sid Ganis, and Rob Friedman.

Over the course of more than 25 years, Abramorama has successfully distributed and marketed hundreds of films, including the record breaking Hello, Love, Again directed by Cathy Garcia-Sampana and Oliver Stone’s Nuclear Now; Werner Herzog’s Ghost Elephants, Sam Green’s 32 Sounds, Vanessa & Ted Hope’s Invisible Nation; Ron Howard’s Grammy Award^®-winning The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years; Stanley Nelson’s Miles Davis: Birth of The Cool; Atlantic Records and Melanie Martinez’ K-12; John McDermott’s Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church; Amir Bar-Lev’s Long Strange Trip – The Untold Story of the Grateful Dead; Corbett Redford and Green Day’s Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk; Brett Bern’s BANG! The Bert Berns Story; Brett Morgen and National Geographic’s seminal Jane; Asif Kapadia’s Senna; Neil Young’s vast catalog of Bernard Shakey Productions; Cameron Crowe’s Pearl Jam Twenty; Sacha Gervasi’s Spirit Award-winning Anvil! The Story of Anvil; Banksy’s Academy Award^® nominated & Spirit Award-winning Exit Through the Gift Shop; and the episodic theatrical series Deconstructing The Beatles.

In January of 2019, AB2 launched ABCinemaNOW with a live multicast streaming program from Paris, France for a 55-country release of Roberta Grossman and Nancy Spielberg’s Who Will Write Our History. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic AB2 released 24 feature films as appointment viewing live virtual cinema events simultaneously across multiple digital platforms andlaunched the first paid feature film to premiere globally on META in 2021. For more information, please visit www.AB2mediagroup.com.

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