HORROR CHANNEL FRIGHTFEST, MPI MEDIA GROUP, DARK SKY FILMS & SCREEN INTERNATIONAL JOIN FORCES IN TALENT SEARCH FOR GENRE SCREENWRITERS
Barbara Crampton, Dominic Brunt and Travis Stevens named as mentors.
Are you a writer concocting fiendishly fantastic ideas in the witching hours? Have you hidden away your script in the deepest darkest catacombs but are now ready to unleash it onto the unsuspecting world?
As an innovative addition to this year’s main event, which runs from Aug 24 - Aug 28, Horror Channel FrightFest has teamed up with international production and distribution company MPI Media and their sister production company Dark Sky Films to create NEW BLOOD, an initiative which aims to find new genre writers and nurture their projects from script to screen. This initiative has the support of the UK’s leading film industry magazine Screen international.
MPI/Dark Sky Films, with its proven track record in producing and distributing a wide array of genre features including THE INNKEEPERS, STARRY EYES, STAKE LAND and IT STAINS THE SANDS RED, is on the search for exciting new ideas to develop into feature films budgeted below $1m for an international market.
The successful shortlisted applicants will have the opportunity to explore their ideas and scripts in a group setting under the mentorship of top industry professionals and genre experts including Travis Stevens, acclaimed producer of Starry Eyes and We Are Still Here; actor, producer and horror icon Barbara Crampton, actor / director Dominic Brunt and Giles Edwards, MPI Media’s Head Of Acquisitions & Development.
The NEW BLOOD event will be held on Thursday 23rd August, the opening day of this year’s festival, at the Radisson Hampshire Hotel.
Giles Edwards, MPI Media’s Head of Acquisition and Development, said today: “We are looking for original scripts or treatments for feature films which would appeal both critically and commercially to a global audience hungry for bold, diverse new voices in the realm of daring, thrilling, fiercely entertaining genre cinema. We want to unearth the UK's Julie Ducournau or Ti West, Jennifer Kent or Simon Barrett, Jordan Peele, Ana Lily Amirpour or David Robert Mitchell. We know you're out there, so don’t hold back. If you think your idea is original the chances are we will too. Suckerpunch us with your brilliance.”
Applications are now open through submission forms. The deadline is Fri 4th August. All successful applicants will be notified by Mon 14th August. All participants are expected to pay for their own travel and accommodation.
For full application requirements and terms & conditions: frightfest.co.uk
