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Exclusive: Alex Creasia has joined management and production company Navigation Media Group as a Literary Manager.

Coming aboard after a little over three years at Sugar23, Creasia has spent over a decade working in literary management and production. He often works with on-the-rise multi-hyphenates from diverse backgrounds, helping them build careers in film and TV, and has a passion for discovering and helping to expose out-of-the-box IP. Creasia also works with artists and producers in unscripted, often in the arena of sports.

In the past, Creasia has helped produce and sell such indies as Still starring Madeline Brewer, and Only starring Leslie Odam Jr and Frieda Pinto, both of which were written and directed by client Takashi Doscher. Other clients he brings with him to Navigation Media Group include Marcus Stokes, Spencer Paysinger, Mercedes Bryce Morgan, Mary Pilon, Alex Ebel, Spenser Starke, Daniel Brown, Hannah Mescon & Dreux Moreland, Sterling Brown,...

Exclusive: Steven Ogg, notably recognized for his roles on The Walking Dead and Westworld, has signed with Buchwald for representation.

Most recently, Ogg played the role of Pike in TNT’s post-apocalyptic dystopian thriller Snowpiercer opposite Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs. He also had pivotal roles in the Emmy-nominated series Better Call Saul and Amazon’s The Tick.

On the film side, Ogg can be seen in Antoine Fuqua’s Apple TV+ thriller Emancipation opposite Will Smith and Ben Foster, and in the cyberpunk indie The Dresden Sun. The actor has also appeared in Ani Simon-Kennedy’s Tribeca drama The Short History of the Long Road and Carl Strathie’s sci-fi pic Solis, among other titles.

Ogg is also well known for his portrayal of the Trevor Philips character in the Grand Theft Auto video game, for which he was nominated for Best Performer at the BAFTA Games Awards.

He...

Exclusive: Sarah Catherine Hook (First Kill) and Steven Ogg (Westworld) have signed on to star alongside Zak Steiner and Greer Grammer in the upcoming feature The Ghost Trap from Khanlarian Entertainment.

The film currently in production in Maine is based on the novel of the same name by K. Stephens. It tells the story of Jamie Eugley (Steiner), a young lobsterman struggling with the grinding responsibilities of a head-injured fiancée (Grammer) and a mounting trap war with a rival lobstering family. While Hook will be playing Happy, a potential love interest of the protagonist, details as to Ogg’s role haven’t been disclosed. Pic’s ensemble also includes former Miss Utah, Rachel Slawson.

James Khanlarian is directing from Stephens’ script, with Khanlarian Entertainment and Filmtrax producing. The producers on the project are Peter A. Couture, Simon Fawcett, Larry Mortorff, Candace Cason, Steiner, Khanlarian and Stephens.

Hook recently found her...

Exclusive: Annalise Basso (Snowpiercer) Tracy Campbell (House of Payne), Steven Ogg (Apple TV+’s Emancipation), Jay Huguley (The Eyes of Tammy Faye), Denise Smolarek and newcomer Avalon Reign have signed on to star in the crime drama Now I See, from writer-director Carissa Stutzman and Anthem Entertainment.

The film centers on Claire Moyer (Basso), a blind woman who is overly cautious with her six-year-old daughter, Briar (Reign). When Briar goes missing on Christmas Day, Claire faces her worst nightmare and sets out in the darkness to find her. Knowing her daughter’s life is at stake and frustrated by a lack of police effort, she joins forces with her boyfriend Beck (Campbell). But when law enforcement turns their investigation onto Beck, Claire has no choice but to take matters into her own hands. Ogg will play Sheriff Walker Donley, with Huguley as Officer Hooper Miller—both assigned to the case of finding Claire’s daughter.

Exclusive: Steven Ogg has signed on to star alongside Christina Ricci and Samantha Win in The Dresden Sun, a cyberpunk indie from writer-director Michael Ryan.

The film observes as a heist goes south when a brilliant, principled mercenary with a traumatic past works with an insider to steal a valued asset from Peredor Corporation called “the sphere”. The C & Earth corporation, vying for global dominance, seeks to find a solution to an otherworldly technology via a scientist’s project. Meanwhile, a financial analyst, who despises his job at the powerful investment firm Mutual One, finds himself caught between deadly corporate rivals, financial fraud, and technological espionage, and is ultimately forced to run from a psychopathic military contractor.

Ogg will play the film’s mercenary protagonist, Crilenger. Michael Ryan and Tyler Lockamy are producing via their Archetype Pictures banner,...

Spy Manor and UK’s Moviebox are shooting together and setting up a fund for incoming productions.

Portuguese production services firm Spy Manor Productions has formed a strategic collaboration with Production Algarve and UK production company MovieBox Group to boost the Algarve region with new studios, co-productions, and a fund to support international co-productions.

MovieBox Premiere, the distribution arm of the MovieBox Group, Spy Manor and fellow Portuguese company Monte Productions are set to shoot drama The Infernal Machine in the Algarve this summer, written and directed by Andrew Hunt, and produced by Lionel Hicks, Julian Hicks and Alan Latham.

A girl's disappearance could be linked to strange lights from the stars in Dark Encounter, the latest otherworldly film from writer/director Carl Strathie. With Dark Encounter coming to DVD and Digital on January 7th, we caught up with Strathie to discuss the importance and attention to detail of setting his film in 1983, the cinematic influences that inspired him while making Dark Encounter, and the team effort it took to get the film across the finish line.

Thanks for taking the time to catch up with us, Carl, and congratulations on Dark Encounter! How and when did you get the idea for this film?

Carl Strathie: Thank you very much! The idea for Dark Encounter came in fragmented pieces over many years. I guess it started with my childhood fascination with UFOs and aliens. I used to have countless UFO books and various "caught on tape" VHS series, which I used to obsess over.

Dark Encounter is an alien thriller, from director Carl Strathie. The film takes place after the death of a young child, with lights appearing in a nearby wood. These lights lead the family to the truth of the child's disappearance. Dark Encounter has already debuted at Frightfest, earlier this year. The film has also shown at Fantasy Film Fest and the Sitges Film Festival (First Showing). Now, Dark Encounter is slated to debut on Digital platforms this January. A new movie poster and trailer are available here, ahead of the film's wide release. The trailer begins after a search for a missing girl. Then, strange lights begin to appear over the town. The townsfolk set out to investigate the phenomenon. But, no one is sure who or what is creating this latest disturbance. Dark Encounter is the second film from Carl Strathie (Solis). Strathie's second science fiction release increases its...

"Mom... the stars are moving." 4Digital Media has debuted an official trailer for an eerie, scary sci-fi thriller titled Dark Encounter, the latest film from UK filmmaker Carl Strathie (his feature debut was the high concept space thriller Solis from last year). Written & directed by Strathie, Dark Encounter is about a family who starts to notice strange things - lights, sounds, weird things in the woods. All of this begins a year after their young daughter went missing, and might answer the question of where she went. The film stars Laura Fraser, Mel Raido, Alice Lowe, Sid Phoenix, Grant Masters, Vincent Regan, and Spike White. This looks a bit like most other aliens-in-the-woods thrillers, but there is a quality that makes it stand out. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Carl Strathie's Dark Encounter, direct from 4Digital's YouTube: A year after Maisie Anderson mysteriously vanished, her family returns...

Stars: Laura Fraser, Mel Raido, Vincent Regan, Alice Lowe, Sid Phoenix, Grant Masters, Spike White, Nicholas Pinnock | Written and Directed by Carl Strathie

“Something’s happenin’. Something unnatural. Something evil”.

Written and directed by Carl Strathie (Solis), Dark Encounter is the story of a family in grief after the strange disappearance of their young eight year old daughter. We check in with them one year after their little girl vanished and witness unusual things beginning to happen, from unusual flashing lights in the woods and other obscure phenomenon. The now fractured and cracked family are soon left bewildered by it all, and what follows is an invasive series of events involving life from another world amidst a backdrop of family issues, a marriage falling apart and uncomfortable interactions between individuals with their own unique concerns and demons.

There are definite elements of horror to be found in Dark Encounter. The...

This year marks the festival’s 20th anniversary.

This year’s FrightFest, the annual UK genre festival, has unveiled a line-up that features 20 world premieres including films from the Soska Sisters (American Mary) and Tom Paton (Black Site).

The Soska Sisters, Jen and Sylvia, are screening their second feature Rabid, their re-imagining of David Cronenberg’s 1977 film. Paton’s Stairs is a sci-fi horror about a special ops squad that find themselves trapped on a never-ending stairwell.

Also screening are Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, produced by Guillermo del Toro and directed by André Øvredal’s, and Crawl,...

"I just don't have any coordinates..." Blue Fox Entertainment has revealed the full trailer for a sci-fi thriller titled Solis, from writer/director Carl Strathie making his feature debut after a number of shorts. Following an accident, asteroid mining engineer Troy Holloway wakes to find himself trapped inside an escape pod helplessly idling towards the sun. Now he must endure the horrifying limits, physical and psychological, of human survival. Canadian actor Steven Ogg (most notably playing Trevor Philips from Grand Theft Auto V) stars as Troy, with Alice Lowe voicing Cmdr Roberts. I'm a bit pissed off by the blatant First Man poster ripoff (see below). Thankfully the footage isn't bad, but it's not good either. This definitely looks cheap and is trying so hard to be a mix of Sunshine and Gravity, but nowhere near as good as either. Bad sci-fi is bad. Here's the official Us trailer (+ two posters) for Carl Strathie's Solis,...

Blue Fox Entertainment, Vertical Entertainment set October 26 releases.

Edward Noeltner’s Los Angeles-based Cinema Management Group (Cmg) has closed Us deals on Tiff sales titles Solis and The School.

Goldfinch Studios’ sci-fi Thriller Solis from Carl Strathie will get a release through Blue Fox Entertainment on October 26. Steven Ogg and Alice Lowe star in the tale of an astronaut in an escape pod hurtling towards the sun who tries to communicate with the commander of his main ship in a race for survival.

Cmg launched sales in Berlin and has struck deals for Germany (Capelight), China (Wing Sight), France and...

In many respects the premise to this lo-fi sci-fi film from writer/director Carl Strathie is pretty much bullet-proof. Following a meteor shower in outer space, astronaut and engineer Troy Holloway (Steven Ogg) finds himself trapped inside an escape pod hurtling towards the sun. His only contact is through radio communication with Commander Roberts (voiced by Alice Lowe). Roberts is piloting another ship which may be able to intercept the pod and rescue Holloway, but as life-support systems begin to fail it becomes a race against time for our desperate heroes.

If someone pitched me that idea in a production meeting I'd be interested, and if you've seen the trailer to this film it definitely looks like a white-knuckle thrill-ride, but Solis manages somehow to disappoint - and it's all in...

Gordon Napier to receive backing from UK production house.

UK production outfit Goldfinch Studios has named Gordon Napier as the first recipient of its newly-launched First Flights initiative, which backs low-budget features from first time directors.

The venture will see the company help to guide writer-director Napier’s career transition from shorts to features. His credits to date include short 1745, which premiered at Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2017 and was nominated for Bafta Scotland and Bifa prizes.

First Flights will see Goldfinch develop two projects from Napier. The company will initially back them through the development stage and will then...

The first trailer for Carl Strathie’s debut sci-fi thriller Solis has blasted its way towards the sun. Unfortunately, there’s no embed, which means you’ll need to click here in order to watch. Solis stars Steven Ogg, best known for roles in The Walking Dead and Westworld, as Troy Holloway, a man who finds himself trapped aboard an escape pod hurtling toward the […]...

An impressive trailer for an indie space thriller called Solis has emerged prior to its bow at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. The film looks like a thrilling claustrophobic exercise overall with a real-time ticking clock. Add to that good acting and some great home-grown model work and Solis becomes a flick to watch out for.

Solis is the feature film debut of Carl Strathie, who also wrote the film.

Synopsis:

In the film, astronaut Troy Holloway wakes after a space accident to find himself trapped in an escape pod drifting towards the sun, with his oxygen running out and a burn-up rate of 90 minutes.

The only possibility of help lies with Commander Roberts (Prevenge's Alice Lowe), speaking to...

Alice Lowe among cast on sci-fi The Encounter.

Beverly Hills and Paris-based Cinema Management Group (Cmg) has acquired worldwide rights to The Encounter starring Alice Lowe from the UK’s Goldfinch Studios, building on a relationship that began earlier this year with the sci-fi thriller Solis.

The Encounter is a 1980s-set sci-fi drama that like Solis is directed by Carl Strathie, and takes place in a small rural town in Philadelphia, where a struggling family discovers the truth about their missing daughter through a series of frightening encounters with otherworldly beings.

The project is currently in production and stars Laura Fraser,...

Alice Lowe among cast on sci-fi The Encounter.

Beverly Hills and Paris-based Cinema Management Group (Cmg) has acquired worldwide rights to The Encounter starring Alice Lowe from the UK’s Goldfinch Studios, building on a relationship that began earlier this year with the sci-fi thriller Solis.

The Encounter is a 1980s-set sci-fi drama that like Solis is directed by Carl Strathie, and takes place in a small rural town in Philadelphia, where a struggling family discovers the truth about their missing daughter through a series of frightening encounters with otherworldly beings.

The project is currently in production and stars Laura Fraser,...

UK production and sales company beefs up Efm roster.

UK-based Goldfinch Studios has unveiled its full slate of productions ahead of the European Film Market (Efm) in Berlin.

In October last year, financing outfit Goldfinch Entertainment teamed with York-based production company Gsp Studios to form Goldfinch Studios, which is now operating as a combined production, sales and financing company.

Goldfinch has four new productions on its slate, including a project from writer-director Carl Strathie, whose Steven Ogg and Alice Lowe-starring Solis is in post-production.

The latest project, which is currently casting up in pre-production, is a sci-fi titled The Encounter set in rural Philadelphia in the early 1980s that follows a family who are terrorised by otherworldly beings.

Further new productions include elevated genre project In The Hands Of Jesus from first-time director Oliver Vilas, Burners starring Rhianne Barreto, and period drama The Black Callant.

Those all join a production slate that already features: Ben Cookson’s [link=tt...

Production is underway on writer-director Carl Strathie’s debut sci-fi thriller Solis, which will shoot at Gsp Studios in Yorkshire for four weeks, reports ScreenDaily. Solis stars Steven Ogg, best known for roles in The Walking Dead and Westworld, as Troy Holloway, a man who finds himself trapped aboard an escape pod hurtling toward the sun. With rapid oxygen depletion and a […]...

The sci-fi thriller is the debut feature of writer-director Carl Strathie.

Production is underway on writer-director Carl Strathie’s debut sci-fi thriller Solis, which will shoot at Gsp Studios in Yorkshire for four weeks.

Solis stars Steven Ogg, best known for roles in The Walking Dead and Westworld, as Troy Holloway, a man who finds himself trapped aboard an escape pod hurtling toward the sun.

With rapid oxygen depletion and a fast-approaching burn-up rate, a rescue party led by Commander Roberts is sent to save Holloway before time runs out. Having recently lost his son, Holloway questions his survival, but Roberts is determined to save his life. Through this journey, the pair discover their lives are intertwined in unexpected ways.

Writer-director Strathie said: “We’re going down the rustic, rudimentary low-fi sci-fi route, similar to classics such as 2001 A Space Odyssey and Alien, utilising old-school techniques such as miniatures, wire work and pretty much making everything as practical...