Myriad has picked up all worldwide sales rights to the low-budget film You Can't Stop The Murders, which is being released in Australia on March 13 by BVI and Miramax.

The comedy is Anthony Mir's directorial debut and he also appears in the film alongside his long-term stand-up comedy collaborators Gary Eck and Akmal Saleh.

Producer Anastasia Sideris did the deal with Myriad after a call from co-president Kirk D'Amico convinced her the sales agent loved rather than needed the film.

After failing to secure the support of industry players because of Mir's inexperience, Sideris was initially going to shoot the film on DV with a skeleton crew, then try and get finishing funds, the same strategy used on Love And Other Catastrophes, which she line-produced before producing Strange Planet.

But then, impressed by the script and the team, the commissioning arm of local broadcaster SBS and Pay TV outfit Showtime/PMP boarded the project at the last minute. It was shot on film in late 2001 and two of Australia's government agencies later assisted with additional post-production finance.

The focus of You Can't Stop The Murders is the relationship between two young police officers and what happens when a big-city detective comes to their sleepy village to help solve some serial killings.