In case you don't know the story already, here is a recap. RKSS (Roadkill Superstar) made the short film called T is for Turbo and submitted it to the first ABCs of Death guest director contest where the public got to vote for their favorite short. While Turbo amassed a huge number of votes, it did not make it into the first film. However, Jason Eisener (Hobo With A Shotgun and V/H/S 2) and ABCs producer Ant Timpson went to bat for the film at the first Frontières International Co-Production Market at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal last July. And their efforts were not in vain! The project was picked up by EMAfilms for production at the festival.
A year passed with nary a word. Then this year at the market we caught wind that funding had finally come through. And now we can share the official word with you. Telefilm Canada and the New Zealand Film Commission will fund the production ,which will begin in late February 2014. This is very exciting news and we cannot wait to see what comes up next for Turbo Kid and his adventures in the Wasteland.
We have included RKSS' popular T is for Turbo short once again so you will understand why are so excited about this project.
EMAfilms and T&A Films are proud to announce the launch of the TURBO KID film project
Montreal, Thursday August 22nd, 2013 - The representatives of EMAfilms, T&A Films, the RKSS Collective and Jason Eisener are proud to announce that TURBO KID, a Canada-New Zealand co-production, has been approved for financing by both Telefilm Canada and the New Zealand Film Commission. The film project will go into production with filming scheduled for late February 2014. The production partners met at the first edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival's Frontières International Co-Production Market, in July 2012, where TURBO KID was one of the Frontières projects presented.
The team will complete the financing in the coming weeks to start the prep work in early fall. Currently in discussions with various distributors and broadcasters in Canada and in the USA, the team is also starting the casting process in Canada and New Zealand. The partners are also negotiating an agreement with Films Boutique as their international sales representative.
TURBO KID is the epic tale of an orphaned outcast becoming a hero in a post-apocalyptic world. Fueled with offbeat humor and loads of splatter, TURBO KID will take genre fans to a devastated world where water is in short supply and BMXs are the preferred mode of transportation. TURBO KID is a coming-of-age story with a romantic twist, an action comedy with a heart of gold and a bellyful of guts.
TURBO KID is the story of a lonely orphan obsessed with comic books who scavenges the Wasteland in order to stay alive. When he meets a mysterious girl named Apple, he is must confront his fears and look to the hero deep within himself when both are targeted by Zeus, the sadistic and self-proclaimed leader of the devastated world. Armed with little more than blind faith and an ancient turbocharged weapon, the kid embarks on an incredible journey to rid the Wasteland of evil and save the girl of his dreams.
RKSS (Roadkill Superstar) is a group of three filmmakers: François Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell. They have written and directed over twenty short films, many of which have won awards at various festivals abroad, including LE BAGMAN, which was seen around the world and has been translated into several languages. Of course, they also made T IS FOR TURBO, which was originally made as a submission to THE ABCS OF DEATH contest. Although the film was not chosen for the anthology, it ended up being the public's choice for favourite film.
T&A Films was born from the partnership between two New Zealanders, renowned producer and distributor Ant Timpson, and arts and entertainment lawyer Tim Riley. In addition to being a programmer for the New Zealand International Film Festival, Ant Timpson runs the largest event dedicated to short films in Oceania, 48 Hours, sponsored by Sir Peter Jackson. His most recent production, THE ABCS OF DEATH, was a huge public success.
Jason Eisener,
inspired by the RKSS' short film LE BAGMAN, wrote and directed the successful feature film HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN - a film that stemmed from a fake trailer that went on to win a contest to promote Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's GRINDHOUSE. Jason has since directed a segment in V/H/S/2 and is developing several new projects.
Through EMAfilms, Anne-Marie Gélinas coproduced with France and Israel A BOTTLE IN THE GAZA SEA, nominated for 3 Prix Lumières in France and 1 in Québec's Jutra, as well as Martin Villeneuve's debut feature MARS & AVRIL, which premiered in Karlovy Vary and was honored with 9 nominations in Canada (4 for the Genies and 5 for the Jutras). Anne-Marie was also Line Producer on REBELLE (WAR WITCH), which won a Silver Bear in the Berlinale, Best Film and Best Actress at Tribeca and was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars.
The Frontières International Co-Production Market, founded in 2012 by the Fantasia International Film Festival within its Industry Rendez-Vous, is the first and only international co-production market to connect North-America with Europe and Australasia, in an environment specifically focused on genre film. The event recently obtained funding from MEDIA Mundus to expand to the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival.