Production Deals Out Of Fantasia For TURBO KID And DARK HOLLOW

Good news for two more projects pitched during Fantasia's Frontières International Co-Production Market at this year's festival last month. The mythological horror film Dark Hollow and T is for Turbo/Turbo Kid (above), one of the most popular entries for the letter 'T' during the The ABCs of Death competition, both signed feature film deals.

Local boys Raven Banner Entertainment will handle worldwide sales for Dark Hollow, the film adaptation of Brian Keene's horror novel. The film will be directed by Paul Campion (The Devil's Rock). Canadian production house EMAFilms signed on to produce a feature film based on the T is for Turbo short. ABCs of Death creator Ant Timpson and Hobo With A Shotgun director Jason Eisener were already on board as producers of the project. We've included the short film below the complete announcement so you can understand why this is a good idea.

A month after the 16th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival concluded and with the Toronto International Film Festival at full speed, two new deals are announced for projects that were part of the inaugural edition of Fantasia's Frontières International Co-Production Market.
 
Genre specialist Raven Banner Entertainment has boarded worldwide sales to the mythological horror DARK HOLLOW. Based on acclaimed US author Brian Keene's bestselling novel, the project was presented at Frontières by Chameleon Pictures filmmaker Paul Campion (THE DEVIL'S ROCK), with producers Daniel Warwick and Leanne Saunders. Raven Banner's Andrew Hunt, James Fler, and Michael Paszt were instantly attracted to it and negotiated a deal with the producers. 
 
Raven Banner's Andrew Hunt concurred "It solidifies a team so strong, that our desire to be involved was a given." The project has also drawn the attention of the 5 times Oscar winning special-makeup effects giant Weta Workshop in New Zealand.

"When I read the book I knew that I and our team at Weta would want to play a big part in bringing it to life as a feature film" said Richard Taylor, head of Weta Workshop.


 
Author Brian Keene comments "DARK HOLLOW is set in modern day America, but it features a classic monster from the old world, that is sorely underused in this genre, the Satyr." With over 25 novels published in over 14 different languages, author Brian Keene is a pillar in the horror community. And with over 100,000 copies of DARK HOLLOW in print, it's definitely a fan favourite. DARK HOLLOW is slated to go into production Spring 2013.
 
The RKSS Collective project TURBO KID also signed with EMAfilms as Canadian producer. The project, penned by François Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell (Roadkill Superstar aka RKSS) already had Ant Timpson on-board as New Zealand Producer and Jason Eisener (HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN) as Executive Producer.
 
Producers Anne-Marie Gélinas and Benoit Beaulieu are thrilled to announce their involvement in this project. "Yoann-Karl, Anouk and François are a dynamic, hyper-cool and immensely creative team. Their project TURBO KID is a fantastic thrill ride that knocked our socks off. The Frontières International Co-Production Market was a perfect forum for us to meet and get a feel for their project." Montréal based EMAfilms released the critically acclaimed and award winning A BOTTLE IN THE GAZA SEA and recently premiered the visually stunning sci-fi fantasy MARS & AVRIL at Karlovy Vary.
 
Ant Timpson, who recently created THE ABCS OF DEATH, to premiere at TIFF in a few days, commented that he was "excited to collaborate with Anne-Marie from EMAfilms who 'gets' the project. After I saw RKSS's hilariously gory post-apocalyptic BMX short T FOR TURBO during THE ABCS OF DEATH short film competition, I knew I needed to work with them on expanding it to a feature. TURBO KID is like the ultimate video mix-tape put together by an 80s movie obsessive after 20 energy drinks."
 
Jason Eisener adds "The RKSS crew have been a huge inspiration over the years and it's a pleasure to help them get their first feature film off the ground. Now the Turbo team is assembled with a full charge and ready to blast awesomeness onto the screen!"
 
It was previously announced that Metaluna Production had made a deal with TCB Films for an international co-production of SÈVE by Fabrice Blin, another of the 14 Frontières projects. Recent Fantasia Festival line-up acquisition news included Kevin & Matthew McManus' FUNERAL KINGS being acquired by Freestyle Releasing (which was just announced this past Friday), Ron Morales' GRACELAND and Quentin Dupieux's WRONG, acquired by Drafthouse Films, Patricio Valladares' THE VICTIM's remake rights signed to Blanc Biehn Productions, Boris Rodriguez' EDDIE: THE SLEEPWALKING CANNIBAL going to Music Box Films, Kern Saxton's SUSHI GIRL to Phase 4 and Magnolia, and Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead's RESOLUTION going to Tribeca Film. Many more deals for films and projects are being negotiated at the moment and will be announced shortly.
 
The Fantasia International Film Festival will have its 17th edition from July 18 to August 6, 2013, and the Frontières International Co-Production Market will return for a second edition from July 25 to 28, 2013. The call for submissions will be announced this coming November.