Horror Highlights: BLACKOUT, TINY ONION, ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT

BLACKOUT: “Writer-director Larry Fessenden has created some of the most original and memorable independent horror films of the last 25 years, from Habit and Wendigo to The Last Winter, Skin and Bones, Beneath and Depraved. His latest, BLACKOUT, ranks among his most chilling and thought-provoking works with a cast that includes: Alex Hurt, Addison Timlin, Motell Gyn Foster, Joseph Castillo-Midyett, Ella Rae Peck, Rigo Garay, John Speredakos, Michael Buscemi, Jeremy Holm, Joe Swanberg, James Le Gros, Kevin Corrigan, Marshall Bell and Barbara Crampton.

Earning rave reviews on the festival circuit, BLACKOUT marks the long-awaited reunion of Dark Sky Films and Larry Fessenden’s Glass Eye Pix, two iconic horror companies that brought us contemporary classics such as Ti West’s The House of The Devil and The Innkeepers, Jim Mickle’s Stake Land and Adrian Garcia Bogliano’s Late Phases.

BLACKOUT will open for a one week exclusive NYC theatrical engagement at IFC Center on March 13th, which will feature special cast appearances and a Q&A. The film will be released nationwide on digital platforms and VOD on April 12th.

Official Film Synopsis:

Painter Charley (Alex Hurt, Minyan, TV’s New Amsterdam) wakes up in an upstate motel where he appears to have been living for some time. After he packs and leaves he encounters various people in the small town where everybody knows your name. Charley is saying goodbye to the estranged love of his life, Sharon (Addison Timlin, Submission, TV’s American Horror Stories), and settling his affairs with a manic urgency that culminates with a call to a friend, Earl (Motell Gyn Foster, Marriage Story, A Dog’s Way Home), saying: “You better be ready, I’m coming.”

But Charley never makes it to his friend’s house: When the sun goes down he has convulsions while driving his car, goes off the road and ends up in a ditch. Charley, it seems, is a werewolf. He attacks his rescuers and moves through the outskirts of town at night wreaking havoc. But the next day he can’t remember the things he’s done. Now the tight-knit town must rally to find out what is tearing it apart: mistrust, fear, or a vicious monster.”

• Written and Directed by: Larry Fessenden
• Produced by: James Felix McKenney, Chris Ingvordsen, Larry Fessenden
• Cast: Alex Hurt, Addison Timlin, Motell Gyn Foster, Joseph Castillo-Midyett, Ella Rae Peck, Rigo Garay, John Speredakos, Michael Buscemi, Jeremy Holm, Joe Swanberg, Kevin Corrigan, Barbara Crampton as Kate; with James Le Gros and Marshall Bell.
• Distributor: Dark Sky Films
• Genre: Horror, Thriller, Independent
• Run Time: 103 Minutes

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TINY ONION: “James Tynion IV, the New York Times bestselling author behind comic book industry sales giants Something is Killing the Children, The Department of Truth, The Nice House on the Lake, and W0RLDTR33, has announced the formation of a new independent production house, Tiny Onion, with aggressive plans across the publishing, film, television, and animation industries.

“Over the last twelve years, I’ve watched the comics industry from the inside, working alongside its best talent and biggest publishers, seeing the exciting ways that it can connect to other media spaces, and I’ve managed to work my way to some prominence. Now I have the chance to take everything I’ve learned and test out every way to make it work even better. Not just for me, but for the generation of creators coming up behind me.” James Tynion IV, CEO & Founder, Tiny Onion. Tiny Onion is backed by a seed investment from Lyrical Media, the Los Angeles and New York-based company that develops, produces, and finances unique stories across multi-media formats, including film, television, video games, podcasts, and graphic novels.

In the comics space, Tiny Onion is bringing together the brightest minds in behind-the-scenes comic book production to staff up a full-service independent editorial and design team. Following the principles that have brought Tynion’s work success in the comics market, the team will seek to identify creative partners and elevate them, curating and packaging the titles before bringing them to the company’s publishing partners across the industry. Tiny Onion will not operate as a publisher itself, but rather an independent creative services company with a footprint across many publishers, including BOOM! Studios, Dark Horse Comics, DSTLRY, and Image Comics.

Tynion is an award-winning comic book writer, best known for his work on the Batman franchise at DC Comics, his DC Black Label series The Nice House on the Lake, and his independent series The Department of Truth, Something is Killing the Children, and Wynd. He has won five Eisner Awards, the most prestigious honor in the comics industry, and has been nominated ten times for the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book – the most nominations of any writer – winning once in 2017. He has also written for DC’s Detective Comics and Justice League Dark, as well as the New York Times bestselling Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover series.

Leading Tiny Onion’s editorial team is Eric Harburn, who helped Tynion and co-creator Werther Dell’Edera develop Something is Killing the Children into one of the most successful comic book franchises of the last decade during his time at publisher BOOM! Studios. While at BOOM!, Harburn also served as editor of the Keanu Reeves comic book series, BRZRKR, which launched with one of the most successful comic book Kickstarter campaigns of all time. Joining Harburn are Courtney Menard (formerly of Z2 Comics) as Director of Production, and Jazzlyn Stone (formerly independent) as Director of Communications.

While its roots lay in comics, Tiny Onion has ambitions in other media. The company will manage a significant portion of Tynion’s backlist of intellectual property and is in the process of developing a slate of new projects across the film, television, and animation industries. Currently in development is previously announced The Department of Truth at entertainment group, SISTER, with Tynion attached as Executive Producer. UTA, who represents James Tynion IV and Lyrical Media, will now represent Tiny Onion in media rights, where it will help the production company grow its producing profile across film and television.

“The benefit of independence is flexibility,” said Tynion. “I know what my big aggressive move in the comic book direct market next year is going to look like, but there are other ideas we’re cooking that I’m thinking up as medium neutral. We’re going to develop worlds on the scale of what we did with Something is Killing the Children, and then we’re going to decide how to bring them into each of the verticals our company is touching. It’s incredibly exciting to be able to think and move that way.”

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ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT: “Umbrelic Entertainment co-founders Thomas Zambeck and Brian Katz announced the launch of its new distribution arm, Anchor Bay Entertainment. The founders aim to curate a new library of films for distribution, projects that range from new release genre films, undiscovered treasures, cult classics, and remastered catalog releases.

“We  had an opportunity to take the name of a beloved genre film brand, one we feel a personal connection to, for our new company,” says Zambeck. “This is a new venture, unaffiliated with any previous incarnations. We aim to honor the history and spirit of the past as we look for interesting films that break the mold, and will be discovered by new generations for years to come.”

Since the launch of Umbrelic Entertainment in 2018, Zambeck and Katz have produced and executive produced over 14 feature films.  Recent releases include the Chris Sivertson-directed horror thriller Monstrous, starring Christina Ricci; the crime thriller American Murderer, starring Tom Pelphrey and Ryan Phillippe; the sci-fi thriller Share with Bradley Whitford and Alice Braga; director Adam Sigal’s dark comedy Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose, starring Simon Pegg, Minnie Driver and Christopher Lloyd; and the Emile Hirsch murder mystery Helen’s Dead. The pair are currently in post-production on three additional films: Hellfire, toplined by Stephen Lang and Harvey Keitel, Deep Six, starring Tom Welling and Cam Gigandet, and the screen life horror Stay At Home, featuring Jenna Davis and Lilah Pate.  Umbrelic Entertainment is represented by Nick LoPiccolo and Babacar Diene of the Paradigm Agency.

A 16-year post-production veteran who has shepherded more than 1,500 projects to global delivery, Zambeck who started his career at Anchor Bay Entertainment, has also previously held roles at Starz, Sony, and Post Haste Digital. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan, and currently resides in Los Angeles.

Katz is a film production veteran and a sales professional with more than 20 years of experience within the technology, manufacturing and private equity fields. He resides in the Detroit Area.

Anchor Bay Entertainment will distribute the following upcoming films:

ABRUPTIO is the first of its kind feature horror film, enacted entirely with lifelike puppets in realistic settings, taking nearly eight years to complete from script to post-production.

Set to release in Q2, ABRUPTIO was written and directed by Evan Marlowe (The Impact). The film stars James Marsters (House of Haunted Hill), Christopher McDonald (Thelma & Louise), Hana Mae Lee (Pitch Perfect Franchise), Jordan Peele (Get Out), Sid Haig (Halloween), Rich Fulcher (Wonka) and Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street Franchise).

In ABRUPTIO, Les Hackel (Marsters) is a guy down on his luck who wakes to find an explosive device has been implanted in his neck. He must carry out heinous crimes in order to stay alive while trying to identify the mastermind manipulating the now twisted and strange world around him. The film is enacted entirely using lifelike puppets.

Produced by Kerry Marlowe (The Impact) and who also executive produced the film along with Evan Marlowe, Barry Finlayson (Horror House), Sue Finlayson (Blood Rush) and Martin Lee White (A Right Fool), ABRUPTIO was an official selection at 35 film festivals during its 2023 run, including at Cinequest. It won 20 awards with 12 other nominations. It was also nominated for “Sight and Sound’s” survey of the best films of 2023.

Kerry Marlowe negotiated the deal on behalf of the filmmakers, with Katz and Zembeck on behalf of Anchor Bay Entertainment.

To release this fall is DINNER WITH LEATHERFACE, the anticipated documentary on Gunnar Hansen, the actor who portrayed the character Leatherface in the 1974 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Friends, colleagues, filmmakers, and fellow actors share personal stories and discuss the dichotomy between the maniacal chainsaw-wielding character Hansen played on-screen and the very intelligent, creative, soft-spoken man he actually was in real life.

Interviews with horror mainstays include Bruce Campbell, Barbara Crampton, Betsy Baker, Brian O’Halloran, Kim Henkel, Danielle Harris, Linnea Quigley, Kane Hodder, and Debbie Rochon. The film also features all of the remaining cast of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the original Director of Photography, Daniel Pearl and Producer/Co-Writer Kim Henkel.

Written, executive produced and directed by Michael Kallio (The Skeptic), he also produced the film with Lowell Northrop (“Hap and Leonard”). DINNER WITH LEATHERFACE is currently in post-production through Umbrelic’s subsidiary, OutPost X.

Kallio negotiated the deal with Katz and Zambeck on behalf of Anchor Bay Entertainment.

Both Zambeck and Katz are traveling to the Berlin International Film Festival to acquire additional films for Anchor Bay Entertainment.”