Epic Pictures Acquires Worldwide Rights for New Horror-Comedy “VAL”
Pop Culture News

Epic Pictures Offers First Glimpse of Director Aaron Fradkin’s New Horror Comedy “Val”

Production and distribution company Epic Pictures has acquired the worldwide rights to the completed horror-comedy Val, starring John Kapelos (Academy award winner The Shape of Water, Netflix´s “The Umbrella Academy”), Kyle Howard (Paramount Pictures’ Orange County, USA Network’s “Royal Pains”), SAG Award nominee Sufe Bradshaw (HBO’s “Veep,” Netflix’s Murder Mystery), Erik Griffin (Netflix´s The Sleepover, Comedy Central’s “Workaholics”), Misha Reeves (Electric Love), and Zachary Mooren (CBS’ “Criminal Minds”), and will launch international sales at the upcoming virtual Cannes Market in June.

The film is directed by Aaron Fradkin who also co-writes with filmmaker and social media personality Victoria Fratz.  Fradkin and Fratz recently collaborated on the breakout comedy about modern dating Electric Love that they co-wroteFradkin also directed Electric Love, which won Best World Premiere at San Diego Film Festival. The film was released in the US by Gravitas Ventures.

Epic Pictures is set to distribute Val in the US through the company´s horror label Dread launched in 2017. The digital domestic release date is set for October 5th this year.

In this fun horror, FIN is a criminal on the run, wanted for the murder of his boss and the accidental shooting of an officer. He breaks into the home of a high-class escort, only to discover that you get more than you bargain for with VAL, short for “Valefar” – a demon who offers to make all his problems disappear if he agrees to follow her rules. But in Val’s world there are no accidents, and as Fin meets her other “customers”, he learns that Val was expecting him all along, and it isn’t easy to escape Val’s dungeon.

“As fans of the thriller and horror genres, we have built a reputation for spotting the most original and fresh content for this market. Val is a fun horror with a very unexpected and refreshing sense of humor that will captivate international and domestic audiences alike. Aaron did a fantastic job directing the film with a top-class cast. He and Victoria wrote a brilliant script that truly comes together in the most amazing way,” said Epic Pictures’ CEO Patrick Ewald.

A Social House Films production, the film is produced by Jonathan Carkeek (Lionsgate´s The Prince), Paul Kim (Paramount Pictures’ Mighty Oak), Jeremy Meyer (Intimate Apparel), and Caitlin O’Connor (Electric Love).  Victoria Fratz is the executive producer.

Kalani Dreimanis, Director of International Sales at Epic Pictures negotiated the worldwide rights deal on behalf of Epic Pictures with with Ty Leisher at Exit 44 Entertainment on behalf of the producers.

Epic’s Cannes slate will also include the recently announced horror title Slapface which just won the audience award at Cinequest, and the highly anticipated horror film The Cellar starring Elisha Cuthbert and Eoin Macken. Epic will be debuting first look footage for the film during the market.


ABOUT EPIC PICTURES GROUP
Since the foundation of the company in 2007, CEO Patrick Ewald has grown Epic Pictures into an independent content studio with the mission of delivering the best-in-class genre entertainment “for fans, by fans.” Epic Pictures produces, finances, and distributes approximately twenty-thirty independent genre films a year. In 2013, the company established Epic Pictures Releasing which is its US focused distribution division. In 2017, Epic Pictures acquired the world’s most popular horror website, Dread Central, and launched its unique horror label, Dread, followed by its AVOD channel, DreadTV and podcast platform, the Dread Central Podcast Network. In 2019, Epic Pictures started the horror gaming site, DreadXP, with a focus on editorial, reviews, podcasts, and original streaming content. In 2020, DreadXP began a video game publishing division with the launch of The Dread X Collection, an anthology of horror games in collaboration with some of the most innovative developers in the independent gaming space.

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