Horror Channel’s FrightFest launches ‘New Blood’ initiative
The Horror Channel’s FrightFest has teamed up with MPI Media Group, Dark Sky Films, and Screen International to create New Blood, an initiative aimed at budding screenwriters.
New Blood seeks to find new genre writers and nurture their projects from script to screen, with MPI and Dark Sky Films committing a budget of up to $1 million per film. Those chosen will go on to be developed into feature films for the international market.
The successful applicants will be shortlisted and given the opportunity to explore their ideas under the mentorship of industry professionals, including Travis Stevens (We Are Still Here), Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator), Dominic Brunt (Inbred), and Giles Edwards, MPI Media’s head of acquisitions & development.
“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”, reads a statement from New Blood.
This is certainly an exciting initiative for fresh talent in the world of screenwriting, with MPI and Dark Sky Films having a successful track record in producing and distributing such independent flicks as Ti West’s The Innkeepers, Jim Mickle’s Stake Land, and Colin Minihan’s It Stains The Sands Red.
“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”, commented Edwards.
This year’s FrightFest runs from August 24th to August 28th, 2017, boasting a lineup that includes the world premiere of Don Mancini’s Cult of Chucky and Netflix’s Death Note, directed by Adam Wingard (You’re Next).
New Blood’s inaugural event is set to take place on August 23 at the Radisson Hampshire Hotel. Interested in applying? Head on over to FrightFest.
