News

In the latest in his “Great British Horror Films” interview series, host Stuart Wright talks with Giles Edwards, Head Of Development & Acquisitions, Europe (Mpi Media Group) about five of his favourite Great British Horror Films – just in time for Halloween! – which include:

The Appointment (1981) Hellraiser (1987) Dust Devil (1992) Mute Witness (1995) The Descent (2005)

You can follow Giles Edwards on twitter at @gedwards | www.mpimedia.com...

Den Of Geek Jul 13, 2017

This year's Horror Channel FrightFest will include New Blood, a chance for new screenwriters to get a very big break...

In conjunction with Mpi Media Group, Dark Sky Films and Screen International, Horror Channel FrightFest has launched a brand new search for genre screenwriters. If you're a writer looking to break into horror and genre movies, this is quite the opportunity.

Mpi/Dark Sky Films are well known for their work in genre filmmaking, having backed the likes of Stake Land, The Innkeepers and It Stains The Sand Red.

The New Blood screenwriter search will shortlist applicants, who will then be able to work with industry professionals such as Travis Stevens, Barbara Crompton, Dominic Brunt and Giles Edwards. Given that Mpi/Dark Sky is looking for ideas to develop into sub-$1m films for the international market, this is a rare opportunity for a breaking screenwriter...

If you're 18 or over, a United Kingdom resident, and love writing weird scripts, an awesome opportunity was recently announced. FrightFest is teaming up to produce scripts with Mpi Media Group --- as well as with genre titan producer Travis Stevens of Snowfort Pictures, Barbara Crampton, Dominic Brunt, and Giles Edwards, Head of Acquisition and Development at Mpi.   This could be a fantastic opportunity for talented writers looking to bring your work to screen. Jump on it now --- you have until August 4th to get those scripts in!   Read more and check out the terms here.   From the press release:   Horror Channel Frightfest, Mpi Media Group, Dark Sky Films & Screen International Join Forces In Talent Search For Genre Screenwriters  ...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Barbara Crampton, seen here in Road Games, will help mentor new writers

The Horror Channel's Frightfest is teaming up with Mpi Media, Dark Sky Films and Screen International to search for talented new horror screenwriters in a project dubbed New Blood, it was announced today. Applicants who submit scripts by 4 August will stand a chance of being invited to a special workshop event at Frightfest where they will receive mentoring from genre experts and successful figures in the industry.

"We are looking for original scripts or treatments for feature films which would appeal both critically and commercially to a global audience hungry for bold, diverse new voices in the realm of daring, thrilling, fiercely entertaining genre cinema," said Mpi Media Head of Acquisition and Development Giles Edwards. "We want to unearth the UK's Julie Ducournau or Ti West, Jennifer Kent or Simon Barrett, Jordan Peele, Ana Lily Amirpour or David Robert Mitchell.

Exclusive: The London-based festival teams with Mpi Media and Dark Sky Films to find new genre voices.

Horror Channel FrightFest has launched a scheme to find new genre writers with distribution company Mpi Media and their sister production company Dark Sky Films.

The initiative, called ‘New Blood’, aims to find horror writers and nurture their projects from script to screen. Screen International is the official media partner on the initiative.

Mpi/Dark Sky Films, which produced and distributed The Innkeepers, Starry Eyes, Stake Land and It Stains The Sands Red, is searching for ideas that can be developed into feature films budgeted below $1m for an international market.

The shortlisted applicants will be mentored by industry experts including Travis Stevens, producer of Starry Eyes and We Are Still Here; actor, producer and horror icon Barbara Crampton; actor and director Dominic Brunt; and Giles Edwards, Mpi Media’s head of acquisitions and development.

The ‘[link...

Following its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Bitch has been acquired by Mpi Media Group and Dark Sky Films, with a Us release planned for later this year.

Press Release: New York (May 9, 2017) - Mpi Media Group announced today that it has acquired multi-territory rights to Bitch, a dark and unsettling dramedy from writer-director Marianna Palka, who also stars alongside Jason Ritter. The film, which premiered to critical raves at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, is one of the boldest in the growing body of work by new female directors. Mpi Media Group will be handling international territory sales of the film in Cannes and will release Bitch domestically under the company's Dark Sky Films banner later this year.

The distribution agreement was negotiated by Nicola Goelzhaeuser, VP of Digital and International Sales at Mpi along with Giles Edwards, Mpi's Head of Acquisitions and Development, Mpi Europe and

Peter Van Steemburg...

Elijah Wood produced Sundance Midnight selection.

Mpi Media Group has acquired Us distribution rights and international sales excluding Latin America and the Middle East to MarVista Entertainment and Company X’s Sundance selection Bitch.

Marianna Palka directed and stars alongside Jason Ritter in the story of a downtrodden wife and mother who adopts the psyche of a vicious dog. Elijah Wood served as producer.

Mpi Media Group will distribute in the Us through its Dark Sky Films label.

MarVista Entertainment retains rights to Latin America and the Middle East.

“Dark Sky Films continues its commitment to supporting the work of female directors, and Marianna Palka’s new film is a brave, uncompromising statement from one of the movement’s newest leading voices,” Mpi Media Group’s vice-president of digital and international sales Nicola Goelzhaeuser said.

“Bitch is a totally unique take on a domestic breakdown – intimate, disturbing, tender and incredibly funny,” Wood said. “If...

Exclusive: Sales outfit also has two documentaries on its Efm slate.

Mpi Media Group has commenced talks with buyers in Berlin on its new slate led by awards-winning zombie thriller It Stains The Sands Red from The Vicious Brothers and two documentaries.

Colin Minihan directed Sitges 2016 Midnight X-Treme winner It Stains The Sands Red and co-wrote with his Vicious Brothers associate and Grave Encounters co-director Stuart Ortiz.

Brittany Allen stars in the post-apocalyptic tale as a troubled woman from Las Vegas who flees across the desert from a relentless zombie. Juan Riedinger also stars.

Mpi will screen two documentaries. Meat explores the lives and practices of four compassionate food producers including TV and YouTube star Josh James, known as ‘The Kiwi Bushman’. David White directed.

Paul Oremland’s 100 Men follows the director on a personal quest as he chronicles changing attitudes towards homosexuality over four decades and tracks down some of the memorable men he has met...

Exclusive: Berlin competition entry Being 17 among six titles acquired by Metrodome at Efm.

UK distributor Metrodome has finalised six deals from the Efm in Berlin including André Téchiné- Celine Sciamma drama Being 17 and fantasy-romance Angel, both from Elle Driver for all UK and Irish distribution rights.

Téchiné directs the Berlin competition title Being 17, a project he co-wrote with Girlhood director Sciamma.

The French-language film follows the tense relationship between two boys whose lives intertwine until they unexpectedly find themselves living under the same roof.

Sandrine Kiberlain, Kacey Mottet Klein and Corentin Fila star. Producers are Marc Missonnier and Olivier Delbosc of Fidélité Films, co-producers are Wild Bunch and France 2 Cinema.

Fantasy romance Angel is directed by actor-director Harry Cleven and stars Elina Lowensohn, Fleur Geffrier, Hannah Boudru and Maya Dory.

The screenplay is written by Thomas Gunzig (The Brand New Testament) and the film is produced by Jaco Van Dormael and Terra Incognita Films’ Olivier Rausin and Daniel Marquet...

Exclusive: Metrodome haul includes Toronto doc, Partisan and 2000Ad.

UK distributor Metrodome has finalised deals on a collection of festival titles including Toronto documentary The Hard Stop, comic book documentary Future Shock! The Story of 2000Ad and Ariel Kleiman’s Partisan.

UK documentary The Hard Stop, directed by George Amponsah, charts the story and background of 29-year-old Mark Duggan, who in 2011 was shot and killed whilst being arrested by armed police in Tottenham.

The incident ignited riots that escalated into a week of the worst civil unrest across the country in recent history.

Metrodome will release the Toronto and Lff title, produced by Dionne Walker, next summer, which will be the fifth anniversary of the 2011 riots.

The deal was negotiated between Metrodome MD Jezz Vernon and Cinephil.

From Protagonist, Metrodome has picked up UK rights to Ariel Kleiman’s Sundance thriller Partisan and Berlin thriller One & Two.

Vincent Cassel stars in the former, about an 11 year-old...

UK distributor Metrodome has bought Simon Stone.s The Daughter after the drama screened at the Venice Film Festival.s Venice Days and in the Toronto International Film Festival.s special presentations sidebar. Stone.s re-imagining of Ibsen.s The Wild Duck, which premiered at the Sydney Film Festival, stars Geoffrey Rush, Sam Neill, Ewen Leslie, Paul Schneider, Anna Torv, Miranda Otto and newcomer Odessa Young. .We.ve been very pleased with the reaction to the film at both Venice and Toronto,. Nicole O.Donohue, who produced with Jan Chapman, tells If. .We are thrilled that Metrodome have picked up The Daughter and look forward to working with them on the UK theatrical release in 2016 as well as the UK premiere this October at the BFI London Film Festival in official competition.. The deal was negotiated by Metrodome head of acquisitions Giles Edwards, acquisitions manager Ella Field and Mongrel International.s Charlotte Mickie.

Exclusive: Metrodome inks deals for autumn festival titles and more.

UK distributor Metrodome has closed deals on a raft of autumn festival films including Simon Stone’s The Daughter, Eva Husson’s Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story) and Julio Medem drama Ma Ma, starring Penelope Cruz.

Geoffrey Rush, Ewen Leslie, Paul Schneider, Miranda Otto and Sam Neill star in Simon Stone’s well-received Venice closer The Daughter, produced by Jan Chapman and Nicole O’Donohue, in which a man returns home to discover a long-buried family secret.

The deal was negotiated between head of acquisitions Giles Edwards, acquisitions manager Ella Field and Mongrel International’s Charlotte Mickie, with Metrodome set to release with a theatrical component in 2016.

Eva Husson’s Toronto drama Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story), picked up from Films Distribution, explores the sexual exploits and awakenings of a group of teenagers on the beaches (and in the beds) of Biarritz.

The film is...

Fortissimo locks UK deal with Metrodome for Toronto title; BBC boards TV rights.

Fortissimo has secured a deal with Metrodome for UK and Irish rights to Terence Davies’ anticipated drama, Sunset Song, ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month.

Metrodome has all rights excluding TV – which belong to BBC – and will release in Q4, 2015.

Agyness Deyn (Pusher), Peter Mullan (Tyrannosaur) and Kevin Guthrie (The Legend of Barney Thomson), star in the early 1900s coming-of-age story in which the daughter of a Scottish farmer draws strength from the land in order to cope with her harsh reality.

Based on the novel by Scottish writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon, the film will also feature in competition at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

The deal was negotiated between Fortissimo Films’ Nicole Mackey, evp of international sales, and Metrodome’s head of acquisitions Giles Edwards and MD Jezz Vernon.

Sunset Song marks the...

Exclusive: The Works closes UK, Germany, Asian deals on romance.

UK sales outfit The Works International has inked a number of deals on Colin Kennedy’s debut romance Swung ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival (June 17-28).

Swung has sold to the UK (Metrodome), Australia/New Zealand (Rialto), Germany (Meteor), Japan (At Entertainment) and South Korea (Double & Joy).

Directed by former Screen International Star of Tomorrow and BAFTA Scotland-winner Kennedy and produced by Brian Coffey (Starred Up), Elena Anaya (The Skin I Live In), Owen McDonnell (Saving The Titanic) and Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey) star in the story of an encounter in the swinging scene, which has an unexpected impact on a couple’s relationship.

Ewan Morrison’s script is based on the novel of the same name. The project was financed by Creative Scotland and Boudica Films.

Clare Crean, head of sales for The Works, said: “The response...

Exclusive: Deals with Wild Bunch, Memento, Submarine include doc The Seventh Fire, presented by Terrence Malick.

UK distributor Metrodome has finalised deals on five titles out of the European Film Market (Efm) (Feb 5-13) in Berlin, including well-received Berlinale Special documentary The Seventh Fire and Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s drama Evolution from Wild Bunch.

Jack Pettibone Riccobono’s documentary The Seventh Fire, about the unseen world of Native American criminal gangs, is executive produced by Natalie Portman and Chris Eyre, and presented by Terrence Malick.

The deal was negotiated between Metrodome’s TV and new media manager Ella Field and Wide House’s Anais Clanet with Metrodome planning a theatrical release in late 2015.

Interview: Jack Pettibone Riccobono (dir), Shane Slattery-Quintanilla (pro)

From Wild Bunch, Metrodome inked a deal for Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s (Innocence) follow-up fantasy horror Evolution, which stars Max Brebant and Roxane Duran.

Evolution charts the story of a quiet seaside village where boys are forced to undergo...

Exclusive: Deals with Wild Bunch, Memento, Submarine include doc The Seventh Fire, presented by Terrence Malick.

UK distributor Metrodome has finalised deals on five titles out of the European Film Market (Efm) (Feb 5-13) in Berlin, including well-received Berlinale Special documentary The Seventh Fire and Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s drama Evolution from Wild Bunch.

Jack Pettibone Riccobono’s documentary The Seventh Fire, about the unseen world of Native American criminal gangs, is executive produced by Natalie Portman and Chris Eyre, and presented by Terrence Malick.

The deal was negotiated between Metrodome’s head of acquisitions Giles Edwards and Wide House’s Anais Clanet with Metrodome planning a theatrical release in late 2015.

Interview: Jack Pettibone Riccobono (dir), Shane Slattery-Quintanilla (pro)

From Wild Bunch, Metrodome inked a deal for Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s (Innocence) follow-up fantasy horror Evolution, which stars Max Brebant and Roxane Duran.

Evolution charts the story of a quiet seaside village where boys are forced to undergo strange...

Odin’s Eye makes Efm sales on shark attack thriller to the UK, Japan, Middle East and India.

Into The Deep, Gerald Rascionato’s debut feature, has scored a raft of sales at Berlin’s European Film Market (Efm) (Feb 5-13).

Sydney-based Odin’s Eye Entertainment sold the shark attack thriller to the UK (Metrodome); Japan (New Select); Middle East (Phonencia); and India (Pictureworks).

Giles Edwards, head of acquisitions at Metrodome, described the film as “a furiously successful descent into the darkest depths of marine-based dread”.

Into The Deep follows three Us college students making an audition tape for an extreme gameshow by filming their most intense activity - shark cage diving off the coast of Australia. But a catastrophic turn of events leaves them stranded in baited water surrounded by great white sharks, turning their audition tape into a film of survival.

Written by Rascionato and Stephen Lister, the film stars Megan Peta Hill, Joel Hogan, [link...

Exclusive: Michael Madsen alien encounter doc played at Sundance.

Metrodome has picked up UK rights to The Visit, Michael Madsen’s documentary about a first contact scenario, which played at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

The film, from the producers of Oscar-nominated Burma VJ, documents man’s hypothetical first encounter with intelligent life from space and includes access to the Un Office for Outer Space Affairs, the Us military, and experts from leading space agencies.

Giles Edwards, Metrodome head of acquisitions, acquired the film from Salma Abdalla, MD of Autlook Film Sales.

Edwards said: “Michael Madsen’s latest is a provocative, visionary and exquisitely realized inquiry into some of our universe’s most profound mysteries. Bewildering, thrilling and enthralling, it’s everything we desire in a documentary.”

Abdalla added: “Metrodome convinced with the most ambitious and flexible release strategy on all channels from theatrical to digital.

“They would like to support the pan-European (alien landing) or kick...

Exclusive: UK deal for acclaimed Cannes Critics’ Week drama.

Metrodome has inked a UK deal with Alpha Violet for acclaimed Ukrainian drama The Tribe, which won four prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, including the Critics’ Week Grand Prize.

Writer-director Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy’s film charts the story of a deaf mute teenager who enters a specialized boarding school where, to survive, he becomes part of a wild organization – the tribe.

His love for one of the concubines will unwillingly lead him to break all the unwritten rules within the Tribe’s hierarchy.

The story is told purely through sign language without the use of subtitles or voiceover and features a cast comprised entirely of non-professional, deaf actors including leads Grigory Fesenko as Sergey and Yana Novikova as Anna.

The film, produced by Valentyn Vasyanovych and Iya Myslytska from Garmata Film Production, recently won the Sutherland Award for Best First Feature at the London Film Festival.

The deal was...