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CROSS CREEK PICTURES AND VERTEBRA FILMS TO FINANCE ELI ROTH’S “CLOWN” AND “AFTERSHOCK”

Posted Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 - Comments Off on CROSS CREEK PICTURES AND VERTEBRA FILMS TO FINANCE ELI ROTH’S “CLOWN” AND “AFTERSHOCK”
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Los Angeles (November 16, 2010) – Brian Oliver, President of Cross Creek Pictures and Steven Chester Prince, President of Vertebra Films announced today they have partnered to fully finance two horror projects with Eli Roth producing.

Cross Creek Pictures will handle all distribution rights for the two films in conjunction with CAA. Financing will be provided by Vertebra Films, an equity fund recently started by Prince, a former executive at Cross Creek.

The first project Roth will produce is CLOWN, with Jon Watts directing and Watts and Christopher D. Ford writing the screenplay. Watts has directed numerous commercials as well as music videos for artists including Fatboy Slim and TV On The Radio.

CLOWN follows the story of a loving father who dons a clown outfit and make-up to perform at his son’s sixth birthday, only to later discover the costume – red nose and wig included – will not come off, and his own personality changing in horrific fashion. To break the curse of the evil outfit, the father must make grim choices with his own family facing danger.

CLOWN recently appeared on the internet as a viral video “trailer” put together by Ford and Watts. Boldly splashing industry names such as Lionsgate, Screen Gems and Roth himself, the HOSTEL-esque trailer gained Ford and Watts immediate notoriety and meetings with Roth, Prince and Oliver. Production is aiming for the first quarter in 2011.
The second project, AFTERSHOCK, is a high-octane horror-thriller set during the aftermath of the February 27, 2010 Chilean earthquake. The plot details are being kept tightly under wraps, but the story is inspired the catastrophe that claimed more than 480 lives and registered an 8.8 on the Richter scale.

The screenplay will be written by Roth alongside Latin-American filmmakers Nicolás López and Guillermo Amoedo, with López set to direct. López, who hails from Chile, recently directed the Spanish-language hit FUCK MY LIFE or FML (“Que Pena Tu Vida”), the highest grossing Chilean-produced film of 2010, which has grossed more in Chile than such U.S. productions as The Social Network, Eat Pray Love and Salt.

CLOWN and AFTERSHOCK will be produced by Roth and financed by Vertebra Films, with distribution rights handled by Cross Creek.

“Eli pitched these to us at a lunch, and by the time we got back to our offices we were already talking with his agents,” says Oliver. “He has an affinity and respect for the genre that shows through in all of his films. Eli is a master at finding projects with great hooks and drawing audiences to captivating, entertaining horror films.”

Adds Prince, “My partners and I have been looking for the perfect projects to launch Vertebra Films. We stopped looking after meeting Eli Roth.”

Roth says,” I’m incredibly excited to bring make these projects my next ‘Eli Roth Presents.’ These guys are ready to make their mark in the genre.”

He continues, “I was blown away when I saw that “Clown” trailer. Everyone thought it was real, or that I had at least made a fake trailer. I called the guys right away and their first response was “Thank you for not suing us!” I said “Sue you? Let’s make this into a real film!” They are incredibly talented, smart guys ready to make their feature debut.”

He adds, “I have been a huge fan of Nicolas Lopez since his first film “Promedio Rojo.” We had been talking about making an English-language film set in Chile, something with the intensity of a film like “REC.” When Nicolas described to me the terror of hours following the Chilean earthquake, we knew we had found the perfect setting for our story. No phones, no electricity, no police…no chance. All the elements you need for a terrifying story are literally right there under the surface.”

Eli Roth recently produced THE LAST EXORCISM with Strike Entertainment, which was made for just under $2 million and has grossed more than $60 million worldwide with more major territories set for release. Roth is currently in pre-production with Strike Entertainment on the films, MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS, which Roth co-wrote with RZA that starts shooting in December, and the remake of FUNHOUSE, which starts shooting in early 2011. Cross Creek Pictures’ first release is the critically acclaimed BLACK SWAN, co-produced and co-financed with Fox Searchlight, opening December 3rd in New York and Los Angeles. CLOWN will represent Vertebra Films’ first production.

CAA, which represents Roth and Oliver, put the deal together along with Cross Creek’s and Vertebra’s attorney Eric Greenfeld of Rosenfeld, Meyer & Susman.

***

ABOUT CROSS CREEK PICTURES
Cross Creek Pictures is a production company formed in 2009 by Timmy Thompson and Brian Oliver with a goal of producing up to five films a year with a range of budgets, financed by their Cross Creek Partners production fund, a consortium of private business investors from Louisiana and Texas, headed by Thompson. The company finances its pictures through equity, tax incentives and international sales.

Their first release, BLACK SWAN, is directed by Darren Aronofsky and stars Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey and Winona Ryder. BLACK SWAN opened the Venice Film Festival to great acclaim and will be released to theaters by Fox Searchlight on December 3rd.

Cross Creek is currently shooting THE WOMAN IN BLACK starring Daniel Radcliffe in London, a co-production with Exclusive Media Group. Cross Creek is also in pre-production on THE IDES OF MARCH to be directed by Academy Award winner George Clooney and starring Clooney, Ryan Gosling, and Marisa Tomei with principal photography scheduled to begin in February of 2011 on location in Michigan and Ohio. Sony Pictures has acquired U.S. distribution rights for a fourth quarter 2011 release.

Cross Creek Pictures is also developing a slate of more than a dozen feature films, including BATHING SUITS written by Academy Award nominee Buck Henry, an original screenplay DELIVERING GEN written by SONS OF ANARCHY creator Kurt Sutter, and a Steve McQueen biopic with a script by Jesse Wigutow.

ABOUT VERTEBRA FILMS
Vertebra Films, LLC is a production company and film fund newly formed by Steven Chester Prince and the Cappuccino family. Prince, President of the company, started his career as an actor before adding producer chores to his duties, most recently on BURNING PALMS, written and directed by Christopher Landon and starring Zoe Saldana, Dylan McDermott, Rosamund Pike and Nick Stahl. Prince also formerly served as a creative executive at Cross Creek Pictures.

Drs. Helen and Andy Cappuccino are noted surgeons who have a long-standing interest in films, and have funded several independent projects for emerging filmmakers. The Vertebra Films fund is composed of a consortium of investors with an interest in cinematic ventures. The fund intends to finance two to three films per year in the $3 million to $20 million range.

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