Filmmaking
trio brings
‘supernatural
skincrawler’
to the Chicago
International
Film Festival
Industry veterans Greg Newman, Nicola Goelzhaeuser, and Giles Edwards joined forces in May to launch Queensbury Pictures, a Chicago- and London-based development and production company specializing in world-class film and TV for traditional and emerging distribution platforms.
On Friday night, their mission creepily comes to life at the Chicago International Film Festival with the premiere of Girl on the Third Floor, a Queensbury picture that has been generating rave reviews and big buzz for weeks.
Described as a “supernatural skincrawler,” Girl stars professional wrestling legend Phil Brooks (CM Punk), who plays the lead. Other cast members include Trieste Kelly Dunn, Sarah Brooks, and Travis Delgado.
QUEENSBURY PICTURES
GIRL ON THE THIRD FLOOR
Bursting pipes, rotting walls, and unidentifiable slime were not what Don Koch expected when he convinced his wife Liz that he could rehab their new Victorian home himself. In over his head, under duress, and tempted by his old weaknesses, Don soon discovers that the house has its own dark, sordid history and won’t be so easy to renovate after all…
Great new talent
While most of Queensbury’s content is developed and produced in-house, the founders will also look for great new talent wherever it emerges, including the Cannes Film Festival.
“Bold filmmaking, world-class storytelling, truly unique projects that drive the conversation among audiences, buyers and festivals for the next decade,” says Edwards. “These will become the hallmarks of Queensbury Pictures.”
Queensbury projects will be partly funded by a diverse range of equity partners, with the distribution apparatus of parent company MPI Media Group as the backbone of the operation.
The process will allow the company to serve clients by functioning as “a genuine invested production partner and in-house production entity,” according to Newman.
About the founders
Newman, Goelzhaeuser and Edwards bring years of collective experience and accomplishments to the new company, having facilitated a broad array of titles, from genre thrillers to documentaries to comedies and dramas.
Their collective works include Stake Land, The Innkeepers, Cheap Thrills, Buster’s Mal Heart, Call Me Lucky, Tickled, and many others.
All three hail from highly respected companies: Edwards’ is formerly from UK-based Metrodome, where he was the Head of Acquisitions; Greg Newman and Nicola Goelzhaeuser honed their chops at the renowned genre producer/distributor, Dark Sky Films.
By combining their skills and experience, the trio is prepared to handle projects from start to finish.
“In a changing marketplace, Queensbury is uniquely positioned to take stories from concept through development, financing, production and release on whatever platform serves the story and the storyteller best,” says Edwards. “We’re an integrated company capable of taking a film from inception to exhibition, all under one roof.”
In development at Queensbury
Besides Girl on the Third Floor, Queensbury Pictures has several additional projects in development — a mix of features and episodic and digital short-form series, both original and based on some of MPI’s acclaimed library of titles. The initial slate includes:
Demon
The acclaimed Polish festival hit is relocated amid the nightmare that is the American Dream, written and directed by award-winning director, Michael Thelin (Emelie).
Broadcast Signal Intrusion
A terrifying and mind-shredding conspiracy thriller based on an original screenplay from exciting new British writers. The film will be directed by Jacob Gentry (The Signal)
The Girl in the Third Floor Window
The writing & directing debut of Travis Stevens, the project is being referred to as a factually based horror film.
Red Cloud
Classic American horror returns in the blood-curdling new vision from writer-director Chris Sivertson (Heartthrob, I Know Who Killed Me) and Producer Michael Moran of MarVista Entertainment (critically acclaimed Bitch and the recent Tribeca feature, 7 Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss).
Gas & Ammo
Drawn from the extreme motor sport scene, a new adrenaline-fueled long form series written by Erik Bergquist, (The Fast and the Furious).
A Slow Cooked Heart
Drawing on decades of stylish, decadent horror cinema, filmmaker Can Evrenol (Toronto International Film Festival 2015 opening-night film Baskin) brings to life a bizarre, enthralling new neo-giallo short form digital detective series set at a remote elite culinary school.
Queensbury Pictures is also actively developing long form series based on MPI’s acclaimed library of titles.
About Queensbury Pictures
Queensbury Pictures exists to usher in a next wave of storytelling. Queensbury develops and produces long and short form films and series crossing multiple genres. Queensbury strives to deliver audacious, world-class content to a global audience.
Send your film updates to Reel Chicago Editor Dan Patton, dan@reelchicago.com.
