Oscilloscope Laboratories has announced that it has acquired US rights to Dana Adam Shapiro’s (director of award-winning doc “Murderball”), narrative feature film debut “Monogamy,” starring Chris Messina, Rashida Jones and Meital Dohan. The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in April where it won the Best New York Narrative Award. Oscilloscope will release the film theatrically in early 2011.

As described by Oscilloscope:

“Increasingly anxious about his impending marriage to Nat (Jones) and thoroughly bored with his day job as a wedding photographer, Theo (Messina) establishes a hobby: he’s hired by clients to clandestinely snap voyeuristic photos of them as they go about their days. Things go smoothly until a sexy exhibitionist (Dohan) leads him into an all-consuming obsession. Stalking her day and night, the woman’s mysterious public trysts send Theo reeling, forcing him to confront uncomfortable truths about his sex life at home. ‘Monogamy’ is an acutely observed portrait of a relationship on the brink, a timely tale of masculinity in crisis in the face of fantasy and fear of commitment.”

The film features a special appearance and an original song by chart-topping hip hop recording artist B.o.B., as well as music by Elbow, Can, Califone, Stars of the Lid, and an original song performed by Rashida Jones.

“Since 1987 I’ve been mad at my parents for not letting me see the Beastie Boys on their ‘License to Ill’ tour,” Dana Adam Shapiro said in a statement. “Years later, I applied for a job at Grand Royal magazine; didn’t get it. To now be in business with Oscilloscope is seriously a dream come true for me.”

“I hear you, man,” Adam Yauch, head of Oscilloscope responded in a statement. “When I was 13 my parents didn’t let me go see KISS at the Garden, and I’m still mad about that. If Peter Criss starts a film distribution company, I’m making a film for him.”

The deal was negotiated by “a bunch of people who love the film.” The U.S. rights to the film were represented by Submarine. Canadian rights are still available.

From Indie Wire

In Murderball director Dana Shapiro’s intimate new drama, Monogamy, Woody Allen alum Chris Messina and Parks and Recreation star Rashida Jones play a comfy Brooklyn couple whose relationship starts to disintegrate when Messina’s character becomes fixated on a hot blonde exhibitionist. The real-life buddies are in New York for the movie’s premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, and they checked in for a frank conference call about the film, their thoughts on monogamy, and the peculiar ins and outs of having sex in public.

So Rashida, did you really just escape the ash?
R: Can you believe it? I was stuck in Europe. I had to drive thirteen and a half hours from Paris to Madrid. It was pretty crazy. I just got out Monday night.
C: Of course, the whole time I was worried about you. And then I was even more worried that you wouldn’t make it to the screening.
R: You’re such a dick! [Laughs.]
C: Rashida and I are friends, but we really know each other through my girlfriend. We obviously don’t have any of the history that the couple in the movie does, so it was really kind of wild, weird, and cool to go down that road with her and get pretty dark.

Did that make playing a couple awkward?
C: Well, it’s always strange to kiss someone with 10, 20, 40 people around. And when you’re looking at someone who was, like, holding your baby in her arms in your house in California last week, you know, it’s odd. I was nervous about it, to be honest with you.
R: Were you really? I didn’t know that.
C: I think I’m always nervous about all of it, and then I was nervous because I wanted Rashida to have a good time. As you do with all these things, you’re taking a risk. I mean, Dana Shapiro, he’s terrific. He did this movie called Murderball and it was fantastic, but who knew if he could make a narrative? I’m super happy with the way it turned out, but it could have obviously gone another way.

So what are your respective thoughts on monogamy – the way of life, I mean, not the movie?
C: Well I have two boys and a girlfriend, so I obviously believe in it, but it’s still hard! I don’t know how natural it is, at least for me — for a lot of men I know. I would love to close my eyes and see myself with my girlfriend when we’re 99 years old and I have a pipe and she’s knitting a sweater, and I hope that’s the way it goes. I think it’s a challenge every day.
R: I agree – I don’t think it’s necessarily a natural state of being for animals such as human beings, but I do think the rewards of sticking with it are pretty fantastic. That being said, I really don’t think there’s a lot of that going on right now. There’s a lot of fear and running and bullshit irresponsible behavior. I think dudes are acting out right now in a huge way. Guys are freaking out. I think as a culture we’re going to have a really hard time with it.

What about having sex in public? There’s a lot of that in the movie, too.
R: I totally get how people get off on it. It makes perfect sense to me. If that’s the thing that works for you, do your thing. Whatever gets you to the mainland.
C: Yeah! I’m down with that answer. I mean, I’ve liked having sex in bathrooms when there were people knocking on the door … that was fun. But I don’t know – these characters take it to a place that I never have. I have a tough time showing public affection.
R: I think it’s weird, right? It’s one thing to make out in public, but to actually have sex in public? That’s tough to do. I was just in Naples and I saw two young people making out on a corner. It was pretty awesome. But they were young.
C: Young – that might be the answer right there. Or maybe it’s old people, too. Like maybe if you saw an 80-year-old couple making out you’d be like, “That’s incredible!”
R: That’d be kind of cool, actually.
C: If you saw two, like, 80-year-olds, fucking on the corner of Bleecker Street?

I really have no idea how I’d respond to that.
R: You would love it! Oh my God. You would love it.
C: Yeah, you’d totally take your iPhone and take a video of it. And it’d be on YouTube the next day. It’d be like, “Hey, how do I get to that site again?” “Google 80-year-olds fucking on Bleecker.” “Oh, there it is.”

From New York Magazine

Forget celebrity bad boys like Eliot Spitzer, Tiki Barber, Jesse James and Tiger Woods. Fidelity in every-day relationships seems to be a hot topic in films these days, from Date Night to micro-indies like Breaking Upwards and The Freebie. Add Dana Adam Shapiro’s feature directing debut Monogamy to the list. The low-budget indie-financed film debuts April 24 at the Tribeca Film Festival (Submarine is selling). Check the exclusive clip at Indie Wire.

The feature debut of journalist/novelist/documentarian Dana Adam Shapiro (Murderball), Monogamy was co-written by Shapiro and Evan M. Wiener and filmed on the Red camera in 22 days around Brooklyn and Manhattan. Thanks to producer Tom Heller (Precious) and casting director Billy Hopkins, Shapiro was able to land Chris Messina (Julie & Julia) and Rashida Jones (I Love You Man) to play an engaged couple who are forced to re-examine their relationship after the wedding photographer takes on a side gig to shoot from afar a mysterious blonde (Weeds’ Meital Dohan) as she poses—increasingly provocatively—in various public Manhattan locations.

His reaction to the woman throws his future marriage into new relief, says Shapiro: “He’s struggling with, ‘Am I going to be able to be a good husband over a lifetime with this person?’”

View the film clip at Indie Wire

“Monogamy” is going to be premiering at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival! The official schedule has not yet been released for the festival, but you can stay up to date and purchase tickets when they are available at TribecaFilm.com.

Exhibitionism, voyeurism, jealousy, lust. Brooklyn wedding photographer Theo’s (Chris Messina) side business shooting surveillance-style photos of clients on the sly takes an unexpected turn—and creates a rift with his fiancée (Rashida Jones)—when he’s hired by a provocative mystery woman (Meital Dohan). The first narrative feature from Oscar®-nominated director Dana Adam Shapiro (Murderball), Monogamy effectively fuses an absorbing mystery-thriller and a taut relationship drama.

“Monogamy”, the film where Rashida will be starring with Chris Messina and Meital Dohan is now finished and will be released in 2010! To help the excitement for the film going, the movie now has a page on Facebook where you become a “fan” and stay up-to-date with all the news surrounding the film!

You can join up on Facebook or by just clicking on the banner above!