Action/Horror debut “The Tribe”
“The Tribe,†the action/horror debut by filmmakers Jorg Ihle (writer/director) and Mo Ramchandani (writer/producer), has been picked up for wide theatrical North American distribution by Courtney Solomon (partner) and Stephanie Caleb (EVP of Acquisitions and Creative Affairs) of After Dark Films.
Co-written by Jorg Ihle and producer Mo Ramchandani, “The Tribe†focuses on a group of young twenty-somethings, who become stranded on an uncharted island inhabited with humanoid creatures, who must then fight for survival against a dangerous predator they do not understand. “The Tribe†is said to be a new and innovative take on the horror genre, but combines classical horror tension ala “Alienâ€.
“The Tribe†had many US distributors vying for the film, until After Dark Films made a pre-emptive buy over the President’s Day weekend. Recently, the film garnered a lot of attention based on their promotional teaser, which was shown at the Berlin International Film Festival, where sales were concluded with Prosieben and Splendid in Germany, Quality in Mexico, and Polarstar in Latin America.
The film stars Jewel Staite (SERENITY), Justine Baldoni (“Everwoodâ€), Kellan Lutz (ACCEPTED), Nikki Griffin (DUKES OF HAZZARD), Marc Bacher, and was produced by Mohit Ramchandani, directed by Jorg Ihle and written by Ihle and Ramchandani, and executive produced by Joel Soisson (PULSE, FEAST and also executive produced by Jo Bamford. The film was financed by Avatar Entertainment is being distributed internationally by Nicolas Chartier’s Voltage Pictures.
When filmmakers Courtney Solomon and Allan Zeman formed their production entity, After Dark Films, the initial intent was to produce AN AMERICAN HAUNTING (along with future films in the same vein), and then go the route of other independently produced projects outside of the mainstream studio system—seek distribution and marketing deals after the fact. But something changed all that.
“The short answer is, I got pissed off,†explains Solomon. “We weren’t really happy with what the studios were offering for the U.S. release. And I’m not the only filmmaker out there saying this. I don’t really want to dis the studios, because I like the studios. A lot of the people there are really nice people. But the reality is that I was pissed off as an independent filmmaker, who puts a lot into making a film, that it doesn’t necessarily go to the right audience, the right people don’t see it and they don’t see it the right way.â€
