LIGHTNING DOUBLES DOWN WITH TWO NEW FILMS FOR AFM
Company Attains International Sales Rights to Louis Mandylor’s Apocalyptic Thriller “The Blackout” and Brookstreet Pictures’ Horror Thriller “GirlHouse”
Los Angeles, CA – November 4, 2014 – Adding to its robust international sales slate on the eve of the AFM, Lightning Entertainment announced today and it has acquired international sales rights to Louis Mandylor’s thriller “The Blackout” and Brookstreet Pictures’ horror thriller “GirlHouse,” directed by Trevor Matthews and Jon Knautz. The announcement was made by Lightning Entertainment EVP & General Manager Ken DuBow.
The AFM will serve as the market debut for both films with Lightning giving international buyers their first glimpse at each.
Directed by Louis Mandylor (“In the Eyes of a Killer,” “Jimmy Bones”) and written by Steve C. Yoon and Jordan Marder, “The Blackout” stars Lymari Nadal (“American Gangster,” “Battlestar Galactica,” “America”), Costas Mandylor (“Saw” film series, “Picket Fences”), Jordan Marder (“ American History X, “Lord of Illusions”), Ronnie Gene Blevins (“The Dark Knight Rises,” “Joe,” “Seven Psychopaths”), Bill Sage (“American Psycho,” “Precious,” “Boiler Room”), Abe Benrubi (“U Turn,” “Wristcutters: A Love Story”), and Grant Harvey (“The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” “Save the Date,” “Geography Club”).
Horror thriller “GirlHouse” is directed by Trevor Matthews and Jon Knautz (“The Shrine,” “Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer”) and written by Gersh client Nick Gordon. The film stars Ali Cobrin (“Neighbors,” “American Reunion”), Slaine (“Killing Them Softly,” “The Town”) and Adam DiMarco (“Words and Pictures,” “Date and Switch”), and features Chasty Ballesteros (“Final Destination 5,” “The Internship,” “Casting Couch”), and Erin Agostino (“18 to Life,” “You Are So Undead”).
Acquisitions and Sales Consultant Richard S. Guardian and Joseph Dickstein, SVP of Lighting Entertainment, negotiated the deal to handle international sales rights for “The Blackout” with executive producer and attorney Mark Halloran and “GirlHouse” with Jay Cohen of Gersh.
In addition to “The Blackout” and “GirlHouse,” Lightning’s international sales slate includes the comedy “Preggoland” (starring Sonja Bennett and James Caan), drama “Bravetown” (starring Lucas Till, Josh Duhamel, Maria Bello, and Laura Dern), horror/thrillers “Indigenous,” “Dark House,” “The Pack,” dramatic thriller “Ask Me Anything” (starring Britt Robertson), and “Healing” (starring Hugo Weaving).
About “The Blackout”
Martin and Julia (Lymari Nadal) leave New York City to return to the small town where Martin grew up. The house his father lived in hasn’t been touched since his passing. People in the town recognize the handsome man as his father’s son. Julia, his pregnant wife, likes the cozy countryside and makes herself at home.
Four college kids hike through the woods and camp at the top of a scenic hill. Jim (Costas Mandylor) has lived in the town for years, and since his wife’s passing he has built a comfortable life for himself, fishing and playing chess with friends over his short wave radio.
Then the power goes out.
It doesn’t take long before food and supplies become scarce, fights break out, and people start to panic. The worst of humanity surfaces in only a few days. Things take a turn for the worse when a few men, lead by a convict named Lee (Ronnie Gene Blevins), decide to take what’s left for themselves. The Sheriff makes a stand to try and stop them and regrets it.
Jim gets his weapons ready and prepares for what’s coming. Martin tries to stay calm until his wife’s pregnancy is no longer at risk. The college kids come down from the peaceful woods into the middle of a whirlwind of fear and violence.
Everyone eventually crosses paths and things come to a violent head. Some people live, some do not. It only takes a few days of living in fear, with no power or food or water, for humanity to unravel. There was light. Then there was darkness.
About “GirlHouse”
Kylie Atkins (Ali Cobrin) is a beautiful young co-ed with cover-girl looks and a desperate need for money to pay her college tuition. Having convinced herself that Internet porn may be the answer to her financial problems, Kylie is recruited to join GirlHouse, a live web-feed broadcasting the sexy antics of a group of stunning young women living in a secluded – and highly-secure – wooded mansion. One night while Kylie is out, one of the other girls insults an online client (Slaine), a deranged psychopathic computer technician, who then hacks in to determine the house’s location, seeking twisted revenge. Kylie returns to the house to find herself cut off from the outside world and in a terrifying fight for survival.
About Lightning Entertainment:
Established in 2001 and based in Beverly Hills, CA, Lightning Entertainment is a leading independent entertainment company specializing in the international sales, licensing, representation, marketing and distribution of premier independent content in all available media. With a strong presence at major international film markets and established relationships with key distributors in global territories, Lightning focuses on monetizing superior films theatrically and in ancillary markets including home entertainment, television, emerging media, and video-on-demand & digital platforms. The company represents one of the largest libraries of high-quality pictures in today’s independent marketplace.
Lightning Entertainment distributes films of every genre in the United States and Canada, boasting a remarkable presence on both in-store and digital shelf space. Their distribution arm reaches all available nationwide home entertainment platforms including (but not limited to) Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Redbox, Netflix, iTunes, Google Play, Hulu, Xbox, Sony Play
Station, Amazon, Vudu, and most major video-on-demand cable providers. Lightning Entertainment’s domestic distribution branch features the ability to adaptively generate domestic revenue in a rapidly changing industry.
For more information on Lightning Entertainment, please visit www.lightning-ent.com.
