Horror Mockumentary That Offers Both Laughs and Scares
Vertical has acquired North American, UK, and Ireland distribution rights to the horror-comedy feature Found Footage: The Making of The Patterson Project. Directed by Max Tzannes, co-written by Tzannes and David San Miguel, and with editing and cinematography by Jacob Souza – who together make up the film collective Dirty Shot Clean (dsc) – the movie follows a crew of acclaimed documentarians as they chronicle a young filmmaker’s quest to create the world’s greatest found footage horror film. A subversive mockumentary with both laughs and scares, Found Footage draws inspiration from Christopher Guest-style comedies like This is Spinal Tap and found footage classics like The Blair Witch Project. Brennan Keel Cook (The Pale Blue Eye), Chen Tang (Warrior), Erika Vetter (Somebody I Used to Know) and Dean Cameron (Straight Outta Compton, Summer School) star in the film. The film is set for limited theatrical release this summer on June 20th and available on demand beginning June 24th in North America and June 30th in the UK.
The film is produced by Tyler Friesen with Radio Silence presenting. Chad Villella, Tyler Gillett, and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin served as executive producers.
“Dirty Shot Clean was thrilled to collaborate with filmmakers whose genre-bending movies have had such a profound influence on our work,” said Tzannes. “We wanted to tell a story that celebrates and subverts the found footage tropes we all know and love, while also poking fun at the terrifying experience of making an independent horror film.”
“It’s a true challenge to innovate within a well-worn subgenre but the gents at Dirty Shot Clean have created something truly original, hilarious, scary and full of heart,” said Gillett and Bettinelli-Olpin. “It’s a send-up of our favorite found footage tropes and a love letter to the process of indie filmmaking. We’re so honored to be a very tiny part of bringing this one to the masses.”
Villella remarked, “It is important to find the right partner to distribute an original movie with such a fun and unique tone, and we are thrilled to partner with Vertical to get as many eyeballs on DSC’s wild & wonderful movie as possible.”
“Found Footage is a wildly original ride — it’s laugh-out-loud funny, full of heart, and laced with just the right amount of horror to keep you on edge,” added Vertical’s SVP of Acquisitions Tony Piantedosi. “It’s rare to find a film that balances tone so well, and we knew from the first screening that this was something special. Vertical is thrilled to bring it to audiences.”
The deal was negotiated by Piantedosi and Manager of Acquisitions and Sales Rachel White on behalf of Vertical. UTA Independent Film Group negotiated the deal on behalf of the filmmakers. Dirty Shot Clean is represented by UTA, Gotham Group and Ziffren Brittenham.
About Dirty Shot Clean
Dirty Shot Clean is an award-winning film collective made of three filmmakers – Max Tzannes, Jacob Souza, and David San Miguel. Their first feature film, ET TU, stars Lou Diamond Phillips and Malcolm McDowell and is currently being sold by XYZ Films.
About Vertical
Founded in 2012, Vertical has become a leading global independent distributor releasing films across all mediums. Vertical’s unique combination of full-service marketing, distribution and highly effective sales services provides collaborative solutions for filmmakers, as the company leverages creative, exhibitor and platform relationships to maximize revenue streams from all content providers.
Vertical’s current and upcoming slate includes 2024 Tribeca selection Sacramento starring Michael Angarano, Michael Cera, Kristen Stewart and Maya Erskine penned and directed by Angarano; Fight or Flight directed by James Madigan and starring Josh Hartnett and Katee Sackhoff; 2024’s SXSW selection I Don’t Understand You co-directed/co-written by David Joseph Craig and Brian William Crano and starring Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells; Director/writer Kristin Scott Thomas’ My Mother’s Wedding starring Thomas, Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, Emily Beecham and Freida Pinto; Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard’s Eden which had its world premiere at TIFF 2024 and stars Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Daniel Brühl and Sydney Sweeney; Guns Up directed by Edward Drake and starring Kevin James, Christina Ricci, Luis Guzmán and Academy Award-winner Melissa Leo.
Past Vertical releases include In The Lost Lands directed by Paul W.S. Anderson based on George R.R. Martin’s short story and starring Milla Jovovich and Dave Bautista; TIFF 2024 and Venice International FF 2024 selection The Order from director Justin Kurzel and starring Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan and Jurnee Smollett; TIFF 2023 selection Lee, directed by Ellen Kuras and starring Kate Winslet, Andrea Riseborough, Andy Samberg, Alexander Skarsgård and Marion Cotillard; director George Nolfi’s sci-fi thriller Elevation starring Anthony Mackie and Morena Baccarin; Caroline Lindy’s Your Monster which stars Melissa Barrera and Tommy Dewey and had its World Premiere at Sundance 2024; The Exorcism directed by Joshua John Miller and starring Russell Crowe, Ryan Simpkins, Chloe Bailey and Sam Worthington; TIFF 2023 selection Poolman, written, directed by and starring Chris Pine alongside Danny DeVito and Annette Bening from producers Patty Jenkins and Stacey Sher; 2023 Cannes Selection Firebrand from director Karim Aïnouz and starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law; the 2023 Berlin Film Festival Opener She Came to Me directed by Rebecca Miller and starring Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei and Anne Hathaway; Phillip Noyce’s Fast Charlie starring Pierce Brosnan and Morena Baccarin; 2023 Independent Spirit Award winner Emily the Criminal written & directed by John Patton Ford starring Aubrey Plaza and Theo Rossi; and Damián Szifron’s To Catch a Killer starring Shailene Woodley and Ben Mendelsohn.
For more information about Vertical, go to www.Vert-Ent.com.
About Radio Silence Productions
Radio Silence is the acclaimed filmmaking team of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett. Known for their work that blends horror, comedy, adventure, and sci-fi, Radio Silence tackles every aspect of the filmmaking process from development to writing, directing, and producing on set. In 2022 and 2023, Radio Silence was the team behind the most recent films in the Scream franchise, SCREAM and SCREAM VI. With Gillett and Bettinelli-Olpin directing, the films debuted to rave reviews and were called “an absolute triumph” and films that “reignite the horror genre,” bringing in a total of $306M at the worldwide box office.
Radio Silence is currently directing and producing READY OR NOT 2, the sequel to their hit horror comedy READY OR NOT (2019), starring Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, and Andie MacDowell, for Searchlight Pictures with Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett directing, and Vinson Films and Mythology Entertainment producing.
They also recently directed and produced the film ABIGAIL, an original feature that follows the story of a young vampire and her hunt for revenge. The film was out for theatrical release on April 19, 2024 and stars Melissa Barrera, Kathryn Newton, Angus Cloud, Kevin Durand, Giancarlo Esposito, Dan Stevens, Will Catlett, and Alisha Weir.
Radio Silence is also known for SOUTHBOUND (2016) for The Orchard/1091, DEVIL’S DUE (2014) for 20th Century Studios, and V/H/S (2012) for Magnolia.
About Chad Villella
Chad Villella is a multi-hyphenate producer, writer, director, and actor. Previous work includes ABIGAIL (2024) for Universal Pictures, reviving the SCREAM franchise for Spyglass and Paramount with SCREAM (2022) and SCREAM VI (2023), READY OR NOT (2019) for Fox Searchlight Pictures, SOUTHBOUND (2015), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, DEVIL’S DUE (2014) for 20th Century Fox and the Sundance Midnight cult hit V/H/S (2012), which has generated six sequels and counting.
