By Sam Dallas
Supernatural murder mystery flick Needle has been sold to UK and South African distributors.
The announcement follows the recent success of the Western Australia film picking up awards at the British Horror Film Festival, where it received nods for Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Actress and Best Special Effects.
The rights to the MA-rated film were sold to High Fliers Films in the UK and to Ster-Kinekor in South Africa, where it will be released next year.
Starring Jessica Marais (Packed To The Rafters) and Michael Dorman (Daybreakers), Needle is currently in final negotiations with an Australian distributor and an announcement is expected shortly.
“Needle is a highly original, murder-mystery horror and we decided that the best home for the film was with High Fliers, who understand genre films and their audiences,” said Lightning Entertainment’s Richard Guardian, who negotiated the deal and will be in town at this month’s SPAA Conference.
The John V. Soto film, about a killer who uses an 18th century machine with supernatural powers to terrorise students at a local college, has a “great future in the United Kingdom”, High Fliers’ Jeremy Rothwell says.
Producer Deidre Kitcher said: “It’s great that Needle has been well received by distributors and it’s a credit to our team that a film from Perth, Western Australia can achieve distribution deals around the world including international territories like the UK, Germany, South Africa, India, Indonesia, Brazil and the Middle-East".
Cutting Edge and Makeup Effects Group (MEG) did the film's special effects, while Stephen Windon did cinematography.
It follows the announcement yesterday of Yu-Hsiu Camille Chen's flick Little Sparrows sealing a deal with US and Canadian distributors Film Movement, through Umedia.
To visit the official website for Needle, click here.