Lang Elliott's Sunn Classic Pictures and Los Angeles attorneysLeroy Bobbitt and Virgil Roberts have set up Sunn Allied Releasing todistribute urban and faith-based pictures.

The company plans to release eight to 12 fully financed featuresand is supported by a "multi-million dollar" print and advertisingfund.

The two Bobbitt & Roberts principals will bring their clientroster to the table. They have represented Paramount Pictures, BlackEntertainment Television (BET), and Credit Lyonnais Bank, among others. Theyhave provided strategic legal representation on such projects as upcoming releaseWaist Deep, as wellas Romeo Must Die,and Superfly.

Sunn Classic Pictures established a faith-based division in theearly 1970s that produced In Search Of Historic Jesus, among others.

"The Urban product in all genres is becoming more and morevaluable. From the early release of Shaft in l971 to Shaft 2000, which grossed more than $107m worldwide, the demandfor this product can no longer be ignored," Bobbitt and Roberts said.

The attorneys pointed to the more recent successes of Diary OfA Mad Black Woman and Madea'sFamily Reunion asevidence of the urban genre's ongoing appeal.

"Ray Jensen [Sunn Classic Pictures' president of worldwide distribution]and I are very pleased and thrilled to work with Leroy and Virgil in thecreation of Sunn Allied Releasing, a specially-designed niche distributionentity," Elliott added. "We look forward to a very successfulbusiness venture."