Culture 3 min read By Lauren Baxter
Concourse Media takes on sales for EDM thriller Strobe ahead of AFM
Concourse Media has boarded international sales on the psychological thriller Strobe, which it will introduce to buyers at the American Film Market, alongside several other genre projects heading to the market.
Concourse Media has boarded sales on Strobe, a psychological thriller set in the electronic dance music scene, and will introduce the film to buyers at the upcoming American Film Market. The move gives the independent project a formal sales push at one of the industry's key deal-making events, where distributors from around the world gather to acquire films for their territories.
The cast is led by Suzanna Son, Chace Crawford, Rohan Campbell and Laura Harrier, with Mena Suvari and Grace Van Dien also appearing in the film. The project is described as an EDM-themed thriller, a genre pitch that has drawn attention from buyers looking for commercially accessible titles with recognizable faces. Concourse's decision to take the film to the AFM signals that the company sees it as a title ready for a broad audience rather than a limited festival release.
Strobe is one of several projects moving to the market this year. Ultimate Media Group, led by Jason Buckley, is handling international rights to In Tandem, a survival thriller starring Emile Hirsch and Benjamin Norris. WME Independent is handling domestic sales on the same title. Hirsch makes his screenwriting debut on the film, which is directed by a filmmaker associated with Luc Besson; the source material refers to the director only in partial form, so the full name is not given here.
Capture, a joint venture between Signature Entertainment and Capstone Studios, has also boarded international sales on Flint, a Western starring Josh Holloway. The film is based on a Louis L'Amour novel and is written and directed by Ryan Whitaker. Its cast includes Sarah Gadon, Max Martini and Dianna Agron. Like Strobe and In Tandem, Flint is headed to the AFM, placing three independently financed titles of very different genres before the same group of buyers.
Elsewhere in the genre landscape, MBC Studios is preparing a world premiere at the Cairo International Film Festival for Traveller's Hell, a psychological thriller by Saudi director Hana Alomair. The film follows a female lead who picks up a serial killer posing as a stranded motorist, and an international trailer has been revealed exclusively. The festival premiere positions the film for regional attention before its wider sales campaign.
It remains to be seen whether sales on Strobe will close at the AFM, and whether In Tandem and Flint will secure further territory deals. The outcome of those negotiations will show how the market responds to genre films built around a single hook and a familiar face. For now, the three American projects and the Saudi thriller share a common purpose: finding distribution partners before their release windows open.
Source: variety.com
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