Supernatural Horror The Shade Starring Chris Galust and Laura Benanti Acquired by Level

Level 33 Entertainment has secured North American distribution rights to “The Shade,” a supernatural horror film starring Chris Galust (“Give Me Liberty,” “Mending the Line”) and Tony Award-winner Laura Benanti (“Tick, Tick… Boom!,” “No Hard Feelings”).

The indie thriller is set for a theatrical release on several hundred screens across the U.S. and Canada this fall, followed by a digital platform rollout.

“The Shade” marks the feature directorial debut of Tyler Chipman, who also wrote the script. David Purdy produced the film for Red King Cinema.

The film explores themes of mental health, family dynamics and generational trauma. It follows Ryan Beckman (Galust), a 20-year-old grappling with his father’s recent death. As Ryan struggles to support his mother Renee (Benanti) and younger brother James (Sam Duncan), an ominous presence begins to haunt his older brother Jason (Dylan McTee), a college athlete who has unexpectedly returned home.

Purdy said: “We’ve always envisioned Red King as a vehicle for telling stories as honestly as possible, regardless of how complex the subject matter might be. We look for new ways to blur genre lines to shine a light on important topics and we think ‘The Shade’ is the perfect film to introduce our brand of cinema to the world.”

Olavarria added: “We’re very excited about the opportunity to showcase ‘The Shade,’ which represents a fresh, thrilling voice in genre storytelling, in theaters and via digital platforms across North America. Red King are a formidable new player on the indie horror scene and we’re thrilled to be working with their team to bring this quality film to audiences this fall.”

Level 33 Entertainment, based in Los Angeles, focuses on promoting diverse voices in independent film, offering distribution services across various platforms including theatrical, home entertainment and streaming. The company recently acquired “East Bay,” a dark comedy film starring “Fresh Off the Boat” and “Crazy Rich Asians” star Constance Wu.

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Reinaldo Massengill

Update: 2024-08-10

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