EXCLUSIVE: Police officer turned video game writer and technical director Morley Nelson (MIB: Alien Crisis, The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct) is currently in production in Minnesota on Uncontained, a horror-thriller that he is directing from his original screenplay.
Uncontained takes place deep in the wintery forests of North America and centers on a Homeland Security agent desperately trying to conceal her son’s variant infection from the government. When the local militia take interest, she must rely on the special skills of a stranger with secrets of his own.
Courtney Blythe Turk (Assassination Nation) and Chris Goodson (The Thing About Pam) are producing, with Byung Sa (A Shot Through the Wall) exec producing. Nelson and Turk are starring alongside Peter O’Meara (Knightfall, Band of Brothers), Hayley LeBlanc (Chicken Girls, Mani) and Brett Zimmerman (All American, Call of Duty WWII).
Nelson, O’Meara, Zimmerman and Turk are represented by ROAR; LeBlanc by Anderson Entertainment Group and Buchwald.
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EXCLUSIVE: BondIt Media Capital has inked a deal with Michael A. MacRae‘s 290 West Productions to finance his second feature, My Time’s Up, which is slated to shoot in late summer.
In the film, an edgy comedian faces backlash after a controversial set and returns to the Midwest to mentor a group of rising ‘woke’ comics. MacRae and Michael Nassau and will produce alongside Tom Konkle and Scott Schneider, with actor-producer Max Adler (Glee, The Trial of the Chicago 7) exec producing and taking on a role before the camera.
The film marks MacRae’s follow-up to 2018’s Fishbowl California, starring Katrina Bowden, Kate Flannery and more. Thomas Sullivan is handling casting. Adler is represented by Buchwald and Artists First.
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EXCLUSIVE: Virgil Films has acquired worldwide rights to the feature documentary Alien Abduction: Answers, from director John Yost, with plans to release it on DVD and digital this spring.
The film explores actual alien abductions that have occurred and are still occurring through the eyes of those that have been taken. One of those people, Yost, had a frightening experience one summer as a young child. Something so awful that his parents could hardly make out his terrifying account of what happened. Pic follows John as he discovers that there are literally hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life and all over the globe who have experienced something similar.
Virgil Films President Joe Amodei negotiated the Alien Abduction deal, with Eastgate Pictures’ Ronna Wallace and Ryno Pictures.
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EXCLUSIVE: Random Media has announced that it will release Hollow Metropolis Films’ drama The Issue with Elvis, starring Jeff Wincott, Wolfgang Wincott, Heather Bowling, Erek Richarde and Bill Meisenzahl, across digital platforms on March 15.
The first feature from writer-director-producer Charlotte Wincott tells the story of Dr. Michael Mercer (Wincott), a retired botanist who lives in a cabin in the mountains outside of Morgantown, West Virginia. During one of his treks in the mountains, he happens upon a runaway boy named Elvis who is living in a broken-down school bus on the grounds of an abandoned amusement park. The botanist then begins to piece together the mystery of Elvis through his own research, uncovering the child’s complicated history.
The Issue with Elvis premiered at the 2021 Big Bear Film Summit and has gone on to win over a dozen festival awards. The trailer for the film can be found below.
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EXCLUSIVE: Freestyle Digital Media has acquired North American rights to the dramatic feature Flaky, from writer-director Michael A. Obiazi. The digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group/Entertainment Studios plans to release the title across internet and satellite platforms on March 22.
Flaky tells the story of Ibinabo (Tinuke Adetunji), a Nigerian immigrant working as a cashier in a seafood restaurant in New York City, and her constant struggles to maintain a social life, amid her unending pursuit of the American Dream.
Obiazi and Gordon Kindlon produced the film, also starring Danea Osseni, Stephanie Pope and William Martinez. Freestyle Digital Media negotiated the deal to acquire Flaky directly with Obiazi. Check out the trailer for the film below.
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EXCLUSIVE: Gravitas Ventures has acquired the documentary It’s VUCA: The Secret to Living in the 21st Century, from writer-director Chris Sean Nolan, for release on VOD platforms across North America on March 1.
The film examines the pervasive, persistent sense of existential angst that emerged in 2020, with the convergence of social and political unrest, a global pandemic, economic crisis and other issues. It’s the story of the filmmakers’ quest to find out what was behind the enormous changes and challenges bombarding the world all at once and to make sense of the craziness. Pic answers the question “what have we all been going through?” and provides a name for it, offering tips and strategies for not only surviving this era, but thriving, too.
Chris Sean Nolan and Michael Schindler wrote the film, and exec produced alongside Laurie Nolan. Check out the trailer for It’s VUCA below.
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EXCLUSIVE: X-Men and Star Trek orchestrators Jason and Nolan Livesay have signed on to compose the score for the forthcoming horror film The Queen Mary, with Cutting Edge Media Music securing the original music rights from White Horse Pictures and Imagination Design Works.
The film directed by Gary Shore (Dracula Untold) and starring Alice Eve (Belgravia) and Joel Fry (Cruella) is a psychological horror-mystery exploring three interwoven stories, covering the violent disintegration of two families onboard the ship of the same name in 1938 and present day. Brett Matthew Tomberlin is producing for Imagination Design Works, with Thorsten Schumacher for Rocket Science, Lars Sylvest, and Nigel Sinclair and Nicholas Ferrall of White Horse Pictures.
Rocket Science is also handling worldwide sales. The film’s soundtrack will also feature Nashville rising star, Tiffany Ashton, who performs the end-credit song, a darker rendition of “It Had To Be You” produced by Tommee Proffitt.
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EXCLUSIVE: Colin Bemis, the filmmaker behind the acclaimed 2019 horror-thriller Strawberry Flavored Plastic, this week announced the launch of New Animal Motion Pictures, a production company geared toward low-budget independent films.
The company will be based in the New York cities of Peekskill and Poughkeepsie, with founder Bemis serving as CEO. Projects on its slate include the giallo-noir hybrid You Can’t Be in Here; the horror pic We’ve Dreamt of Demons, penned by Bemis; the pandemic coming-of-age pic Between the Earth and a Cloud, written by Gabrielle Hawkins; and the drama Han, written by Luke Shin.
New Animal will also put out a podcast of the same name, discussing the how-to’s of an indie filmmaking career, and other educational resources for filmmakers at all levels, offering various classes, as well as speaking engagements.
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GKIDS announced this week that it is continuing its partnership with Fathom Events on the release of Pompo the Cinephile, with preview screenings of the Japanese-language version of the film taking place in cinemas nationwide on April 26, and the English-languaged dubbed version heading to theaters on April 28.
In addition to the full feature, audiences will have the opportunity to check out a special introduction from director Takayuki Hirao, exclusive to the Fathom Events screenings. Fan preview events will be followed by a limited theatrical release in select markets nationwide by GKIDS starting April 29th.
Hirao’s ode to filmmaking centers on Pompo, a talented and gutsy producer in the world’s movie-making capital, “Nyallywood.” Although she’s known for B-movies, Pompo one day tells her assistant Gene that he will direct her next script: a delicate drama about an aging and tormented creative genius. But when the production heads towards chaos, can Gene rise to Pompo’s challenge, and succeed as a first-time director?
Pompo the Cinephile hails from the new animation studio, Clap. The film was an official selection of the 2021 Fantasia Film Festival and was released in Japan in June, proving to be a hit domestically.
Tickets to the Pompo Fathom events will go on sale March 25th at FathomEvents.com, as well as at PompoMovie.com and participating theater box offices. Check out a teaser for the film below.
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American High, the production company founded in 2017 by Jeremy Garelick, announced this week that its inaugural American High Film Festival, showcasing films told through the lens of high school characters, will take place from August 18-19, 2022 at its production hub in Syracuse, NY.
Film submission categories include Narrative Short and Narrative Feature, within the comedy, dramedy and horror genres. Submissions opened to filmmakers on February 23, with selections to be announced on June 15.
Axelle Azoulay (Aulcie, House of Wishes), the Israeli and French producer who has worked with American High on their last five productions, has been named as Director of the festival. More information on submission costs, as well as rules and regulations, can be found here.
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