By Simon de Bruyn
After bursting onto the international film scene at the South By Southwest film festival in March, Queensland-shot revenge thriller The Horseman has signed a six figure sales deal with Los Angeles based sales agent Media 8 Entertainment.
Media 8 is taking the film to Cannes next week for its market debut, where it will have three screenings for buyers. The film has already been sold to the UK, but the details of the sale haven’t been disclosed.
“We love this film, and are very excited to bring it to our buyers,” said Stewart Hall, president of Media 8 Entertainment. “It’s one of the most intense, exciting, and well-directed revenge thrillers that we have seen – this movie starts at full speed, and never lets up.”
The film’s writer/director Steven Kastrissios told INSIDEFILM he had a crazy five week run of meetings in Los Angeles after film executives from all over the world expressed interest at SXSW.
“Like many Aussie filmmakers, I left home bitter about the lack of interest in genre cinema,” he said via email from the US.
“But after doing five weeks of meetings in LA where studio execs were passing the film to each other, genuinely gushing over everyone’s efforts, I’m re-energized to return home and make another homegrown genre film.”
The Horseman is yet to nab an Australian distributor.
Media 8 is a film entertainment company engaged in the production, financing, acquisition, and worldwide licensing of theatrical feature films in a variety of genres. Media 8 produced and distributed the Academy Award-winning Monster, and the critically acclaimed The Upside of Anger starring Joan Allen and Kevin Costner.
As part of the deal, Media 8 has redesigned the key art and cut a new sales trailer in time for the market. INSIDEFILM has the world exclusive preview of the new poster art: