Dark Was the Night Casts Shadows Over AFM 2014
Steve Barton
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The upcoming monster movie directed by Jack Heller and featuring “The Strain’s” Kevin Durand, entitled Dark Was the Night, is heading to the big dance out in Los Angeles known as AFM, and we have your details right here.
From the Press Release
Premiere Entertainment Group has acquired the foreign sales rights for Caliber Media’s DARK WAS THE NIGHT directed by Jack Heller. The film premiered last week at Screamfest in Los Angeles, winning Best Visual Effects and Best Special Effects, and will have its East Coast premiere on November 1st at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Scary Movies, New York’s top genre film festival.
Kevin Durand (“The Strain”) and Lukas Haas (Inception) star and battle with an ancient evil in the upcoming film. The script, from Tyler Hisel, appeared on the 2009 Black List of best un-produced scripts, a rarity for the monster genre, under the title The Trees. Rounding out the cast are Bianca Kajlich (“Rules of Engagement”), Sabina Gadecki (the “Entourage” movie), Heath Freeman (Skateland), Steve Agee (@midnight), and Nick Damici (Late Phases).
Sales will begin at this year’s American Film Market; the deal was announced today by Premiere Entertainment SVP Sales & Acquisitions Jack Campbell.
“The overwhelming reception DARK WAS THE NIGHT received at Screamfest last week clearly shows that we have awakened our core horror audience,” said Campbell. “With its amazing cast and suspenseful plot, we’re confident international audiences will also embrace this heart-stopping horror/thriller.”
The plot of the film begins when a long slumbering evil is awoken in the trees outside the remote town of Maiden Woods. Isolated and threatened, it sets its sights on the townspeople, as Sheriff Paul Shields (Kevin Durand) attempts to overcome the demons of his past, so that he may protect those that he loves.
Director Heller produced the feature with his Caliber partner Dallas Sonnier, Sundial’s Stefan Nowicki and Joey Carey, and P Street’s Dylan Narang. Preferred Content’s Kevin Iwashina and Ross Dinerstein executive produced the film alongside screenwriter Hisel and his manager, Alexander Robb.
Elias Axume negotiated the deal for Premiere Entertainment and will be handling foreign sales at this year’s American Film Market.
“We all love a good monster movie, but in this case we were immediately attracted to the all-new mythology Tyler created in his screenplay,” said producer Dallas Sonnier. “Jack expanded on the source material by exploring the emotional struggle of Durand’s character, while testing the conventions of the genre. The result is a tense, dramatic, and scary take on a creature feature.”
Of the partnership with Premiere Entertainment, Heller said, “Elias and Jack were constantly checking in during the entire process. They have always supported my take on the genre, and we are fortunate that they believed in the finished product and stepped up with a strong plan to position our film in the foreign markets.”
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