Exclusive: Quentin Lee's Canadian Chiller THE ENGLISH MAJOR, A Serial Killer On Campus

Peter Martin, Managing Editor; Dallas, Texas, US (@peteramartin)

May 5 2014, 2:30 PM

Quentin Lee is one of my favorite independent filmmakers, in part because he refuses to be tied down to any particular genre. He's made a potent family drama (Ethan Mao), a slick-but-sincere romantic comedy (The People I've Slept With), and a coming-of-age film (White Frog), as well as short films and documentaries. Now he's announced his next project, The English Major, described as a Canadian chiller.

In brief, The English Major is "a more literary version of Scream set on a college campus ... a thriller about a sophomore becoming the prime suspect of campus serial murders reminiscent to those committed by a dead serial killer 13 years ago."

Devery Jacobs (Rhymes for Young Ghouls) (pictured above) and newcomer Aidan Parker (right) have been cast in key roles. Karen Wong is producing, while James Brown and Jack Ong will serve as executive producers.

Lee was inspired, in part, by an incident that took place when he was attending university in California. As to his interest and background in thrillers, Ethan Mao featured a tense stand-off that drives the film to its conclusion.

Also, several years ago, Lee wrote the graphic novel Campus Ghost Story, which weaved together three stories in entertaining and morbidly moody fashion. (More comments here.)

So, yes, I'm very much looking forward to seeing what he comes up with for The English Major. It's scheduled for principal photography later this year (November) in Vancouver.