Germany's Concorde has joined Studiocanal and USA Films in backing the 3-6 picture Zentropa Zhillers slate from Denmark's Zentropa.
Produced by the company's international arm, Zentropa Internationale, the films are budgeted around $5m. The first, Saying Goodbye To Mr Welcome, is set to shoot in Oct on location in Scotland and Denmark. Based on an original script by Scottish recluse Brendan Somers, it tells the story of the disappearance of a small girl in a run down seaside town. Upcoming Zhillers scripts include Sweden's Elisabeth Gilek's Unburied and UK's Michael Baker's Double Vision, and the producers hope to attract new talent as directors and scriptwriters.
"We are not going to make teenage slashers like the I Know What-films, but aim at a more adult audience with dramahorror in the style of Sixth Sense," says Lars Sund Duus, creative producer at Zentropa Internationale. "We have no intention of doing special effects driven films. Our films will have parapsychological and supernatural elements, but the drama and the characters are the most important, because Zhillers are as much human tales as they are haunted tales." Zentropa Internationale, headed by Lene Borglum, Ole Søndberg and Lars Sund Duus, began operating in Jan last year, as a division for developing, financing and producing international features. The films will be handled internationally by Trust Film Sales.
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