U.S. distribution company Dark Star Pictures, Mexico’s Mantícora Distribution and Spain’s La Dalia Films announced at Cannes a strategic deal to launch genre label Antídoto Horror Factory.
The venture, unveiled at the Marché du Film’s new genre-focused Fantastic Pavilion, will develop, produce, distribute and sell a minimum of four genre feature films in the next four years, starting pre-production in 2023.
Dark Star will take North American rights; Mantícora, Latin American territory, and La Dalia, Spanish rights. “For the rest of the world, the partners will mutually agree to the most suitable sales representation,” said Antídoto Horror Factory partners in a statement.
For Mantícora, a distribution and sales company based in Mexico, fruit of a joint venture between VCS Capital and Mónica Lozano’s Alebrije Cine, the move will mark the entry into film production.
“In what is a more competitive market for small to medium distribution companies, in order to assure premium content for us the natural next step was to expand into the production side. We’re very happy to start this alliance with La Dalia Films and Dark Star Pictures,” said Mantícora director José Luis Mejía Razo.
“We’re certain that the combination of the expertise of each partner in their market with the guidance of our amazing artistic directors will result in a production output with the potential to reach wider and targeted audiences”, he added.
Raúl Cerezo and Fernando González Gómez, directors of Spanish horror films “The Passenger” and “The Elderly,” will serve as artistic directors alongside Pablo Guisa Koestinger, CEO at Grupo Mórbido, Ibero-America’s largest horror conglomerate.
“Genre is the most universal kind of cinema,” said La Dalia Films’ director José Luis Rancaño, who admits that after meeting the Spanish directors, there was no turning back. “That’s why we came up with the idea of creating an independent genre label, Antídoto Horror Factory.”
“In Spain and just with our resources, it was an impossible project, but we were fortunate to meet our brave partners along the way: Dark Star from the U.S. and Mantícora from Mexico. Both have a special and genuine passion for this kind of cinema. This project has become a reality and we have committed to produce one genre film every year for the next four years,” Rancaño added.
A new-age distribution company for genre content, Dark Star Pictures aims to take North America by storm with these films in the next few years.
“We are thrilled to be a part of the Antídoto Horror Factory label. Dark Star remains committed to bringing audiences the most interesting and unique genre content from around the world and with this new venture we will be helping to spotlight even more of those exciting visions on an ongoing basis,” said Michael Repsch, Dark Star president and a former Breaking Glass Pictures executive.