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Gravitas Acquires ‘Lost Transmissions’; Cleopatra Entertainment Nabs ‘Game of Death’; Random Media Lands ‘Vampire Dad’ – Film Briefs

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Gravitas Ventures has obtained the North American rights to Katharine O’Brien’s directorial debut film, Lost Transmissions, starring Simon Pegg, Juno Temple, and Alexandra Daddario. Based on a true story, the pic premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and will get a day-and-date release in theaters and on demand March 13. Written by O’Brien, the plot follows Theo Ross (Pegg), a respected Los Angeles music producer and his friend, Hannah (Temple), a shy, aspiring songwriter, who discovers that he has lapsed on his medication for schizophrenia. In an effort to get Theo the help he needs, Hannah and their group of friends, chase him as he outruns his colorful delusions through the glamour and grit of Los Angeles’ music scene. Producers are Filip Jan Rymsza for Royal Road Entertainment, Tory Lenosky for Pulse Films, Al Di for Underlying Tension, and Royal Road’s Olga Kagan. O’Brien served as an executive producer alongside Pulse Films’ Thomas Benski and Brian Levy, Underlying Tension’s Bo An and Alan Li, and Robert Schwartzman. UTA Independent Film Group negotiated the deal with Gravitas on behalf of O’Brien with Tony Piantedosi from Gravitas.

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Cleopatra Entertainment has acquired all North American rights to indie horror thriller Game of Death, co-directed by Laurence “Baz” Morais-Legace and Sebastien Landry. The film, which screened at a number of festivals including SITGES, Frightfest, Fantasia Fest, and SXSW, will see a nationwide theatrical release in the U.S. this spring, followed by a VOD and Home Entertainment DVD release just in time for the summer. Starring Sam Earle, Victoria Diamond, and Emelia Hellman, the film is set against a game in which the golden rule is “kill or be killed,” which sucks for seven millennials who decide to play one sunny day. They quickly realize that if they don’t murder people, their heads will literally explode. Hence, they go on a killing spree, taking the lives of anyone they meet in their middle-of-nowhere town. The killer-instinct in each of them bubbles to the surface as the search for victims unravels into chaos. Divided, terrified and confronted with their own mortality, their drive to survive blurs with their desire to win the game. Morais-Legace, Landry, Edouard H. Bond, and Philip Kalin-Hajdu co-wrote the piece. The rights deal was brokered by Cleopatra Founder and CEO Brian Perera, Tim Yasui VP/GM of Cleopatra Entertainment, and by Catherine Quantschnigg from the Black Mandala Sales Agency for the filmmakers.

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Random Media has picked up the worldwide rights to Vampire Dad, a horror-comedy indie from first-time feature director Frankie Ingrassia. Jackson Hurst (Sharp Objects), Emily O’Brien (The Young and the Restless) and Grace Fulton (Annabelle: Creation) star in the film, which was co-written by Ingrassia and Kathryn M. Moseley. The pic, which hails from One Two Twenty Entertainment, is getting a Father’s Day release in theaters and on multiple VOD platforms on June 16. Vampire Dad centers on psychologist Dr. Raymond Walenski (Hurst), who is turned into a vampire in order to provide therapy to creatures of the underworld. He battles his new beastly nature while struggling to keep his family life from being torn apart. Moseley and Jed Rhein produced the film. The deal was brokered by Eric Doctorow of Random Media, and by Tiffany Boyle and Sean Pope from Ramo Law on behalf of the filmmakers.

 

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