EXCLUSIVE: Vertical has taken North American rights to writer-director Hailey Gates’ satire Atropia, which was produced by Oscar nominee Luca Guadagnino and won the Sundance Film Festival U.S. Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Features back in January. A theatrical release has been set for December.
Gates’ feature-length film debut, stars Alia Shawkat (Severance, The Old Man), Callum Turner (Masters of the Air, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore), Chloë Sevigny (Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, Feud: Capote vs. The Swans), Jane Levy (The Problem with People, Evil Dead), Tim Heidecker (Him, What We Do in the Shadows), Lola Kirke (Sinners, Three Women), Zahra Alzubaidi (Dark Justice), Chloe East (Heretic, The Fabelmans), Jamie McShane (Task) and Tony Shawkat (Karla, Three Kings).
Atropia‘s blurb: When an aspiring actress (Shawkat) in a military role-playing facility falls in love with a soldier (Turner) cast as an insurgent, their unsimulated emotions threaten to derail the performance. Welcome to Atropia: an invented land just close enough to Los Angeles for Hollywood set builders to create the fake villages, but far enough away that the performers who live on-site are not exactly flourishing in their acting careers.
The project was inspired by real military training camps in the California desert. Originally Gates conceived the movie as a documentary but was encouraged to write the screenplay after a conversation with her Challengers director Luca Guadagnino, who came on board as a producer. Recently, Grammy-winning creative director Imogene Strauss joined the pic’s marketing campaign.
Says Gates, “I’m absolutely chomping at the bit for people to see this movie! I couldn’t be more thrilled that it’s found a home with Vertical, a company that wants to take bold, creative swings when it comes to releasing independent films. I’m so excited that audiences will get the chance to experience it on the big screen.”
“Hailey has created an impressive film debut featuring a fantastic cast led by Alia and Callum. Atropia is a unique story set in a rarely seen world from an exciting new filmmaker. Vertical is thrilled to be releasing this biting satire later this year,” added Vertical Partner Peter Jarowey.
Atropia was produced by Guadagnino, Naima Abed and Emilie Georges (Paradise City), Lana Kim and Jett Steiger (Ways & Means), and executive produced by Gates, Shawkat, Mike Spreter, Scott McGehee, David Siegel, and KC Wallace.
The deal was negotiated by Jarowey and SVP of Acquisitions Tony Piantedosi on behalf of Vertical and by UTA Independent Film Group and WME Independent on behalf of the filmmakers. International sales are represented by Paradise City Sales.
