Palm Pictures has acquiredall North American, UK and Caribbean rights to How To Draw A Bunny, John W Walter's award-winning documentaryprofile of artist and Andy Warhol contemporary Ray Johnson which is executiveproduced by John Malkovich's production company Mr Mudd.

The picture is the secondafter Matthew Barney's The Cremaster Cycle to be released through the company's new fine arts label, ArthouseFilms in North America and the UK.

How To Draw A Bunny takes a sweeping look at Johnson's life andwork, culminating in his mysterious death, and includes interviews with RoyLichtenstein, among others. It won a Jury Prize at Sundance 2002 and iscompeting for best documentary honours at the 2003 IFP Spirit Awards on Mar 22.

'How To Draw A Bunny is one of the most entertaining and well constructeddocumentaries that we've seen on an artist in quite some time. We're thrilledto be entrusted with the release and look forward to our collaboration withfilm-makers John Walter and Andrew Moore [producer] and everyone at MrMudd,' David Koh, head of acquisitions and production for Palm Picturesand Arthouse Films, said in a statement.

Mr Mudd was established fiveyears ago by Malkovich, Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith and has produced TerryZwigoff's prize-winning Ghost World, Malkovich's directorial debut The DancerUpstairs and the digital feature KillThe Poor by Alan Taylor.

The deal for Bunny was negotiated by Koh along with Jose Martinez,Arthouse General Manager and Halfon of Mr. Mudd.

Palm Pictures'upcoming releases include Dagur Kari's acclaimed Icelandic drama, NoiAlbinoi; Claude Berri's romanticcomedy The Housekeeper; andOlivier Assayas' thriller demonlover, which stars Connie Nielsen, Chloe Sevigny and Gina Gershon.