Montreal – April 5, 2018: Prospector Films announced today that on April 9, 2018 principal photography is set to begin on the new horror film Blood Quantum, written and directed by Mi'gmaq filmmaker Jeff Barnaby and featuring an Indigenous cast. Blood Quantum is Barnaby’s sophomore feature film following the critically acclaimed Rhymes for Young Ghouls. Shooting will continue until the end of May.
Starring Michael Greyeyes (Woman Walks Ahead, Fear the Walking Dead), 2018 Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellowship recipient Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (On the Farm), and Forrest Goodluck (The Miseducation of Cameron Post, The Revenant), the film will shoot in Montreal, the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory as well as Barnaby’s hometown of Listuguj, Quebec.
Kiowa Gordon (The Twilight Saga, The Red Road), Olivia Scriven (Degrassi: Next Class, and The Next Generation, Giant Little Ones), Brandon Oakes (Rhymes for Young Ghouls, The Saver), William Belleau (Frontier, Scalped), Kawennahere Devery Jacobs (Rhymes for Young Ghouls, Cardinal), Gary Farmer (Dead Man, The Red Road), and Muay Thai expert and MMA trainer Stonehorse Lone Goeman round out the cast.
In Blood Quantum, the dead are coming back to life outside the isolated Mi’gmaq reserve of Red Crow, except for its Indigenous inhabitants who are immune to the zombie plague. Traylor, the tribal sheriff, must protect his son’s pregnant girlfriend, apocalyptic refugees, and reserve riff raff from the hordes of walking white corpses.
XYZ films will handle US sales. Elevation Pictures will distribute the film in Canada. Entract Films will distribute the film in Quebec. Bell Media’s The Movie Network has the first-window broadcast rights in Canada.
The film reunites the team from Rhymes for Young Ghouls with John Christou of Prospector Films (The Saver, Up the Yangtze!) serving as producer, Michel St. Martin (Bad Blood) as Director of Photography, and Rene Haynes (Woman Walks Ahead, Indian Horse) as Casting Director. Robert Vroom (Three Night Stand, Another Kind of Wedding) joins as Line Producer and Louisa Schabas (Félix & Meira, Boris Without Béatrice) as Production Designer. Award-winner Erik Gosselin (X-Men: Apocalypse, Crimson Peak) will oversee make up FX and the Blood Brothers (Ravenous, Turbo Kid) will manage mechanical FX. Veteran stunt performer and coordinator Jean Frenette (300, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Goon 2) will oversee stunt choreography and coordination.
Michael Greyeyes is represented by TalentWorks, The Artist Representation Company and Mills Kaplan Ent.; Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers by The Characters Talent Agency; and Forrest Goodluck by The Gersh Agency and Principato Young Entertainment.
Financing for the production provided by Telefilm Canada, SODEC, Canadian Media Fund, and The Harold Greenberg Fund as well as supported through a pre-license from Bell Media’s The Movie Network.
ABOUT PROSPECTOR FILMS
Prospector Films is a Montreal based media company founded by award-winning producer John Christou. Recent films include Jeff Barnaby’s Rhymes for Young Ghouls, Wiebke von Carolsfeld’s The Saver, Juliet Lammers and Lorraine Price’s Inside These Walls and Last Woman Standing. The company is currently developing and producing a diverse slate of fiction, non-fiction and VR projects.
ABOUT ELEVATION PICTURES
Founded in 2013 with finance partner Teddy Schwarzman of Black Bear Pictures, Elevation Pictures has established itself as one of Canada’s leading film and television companies. Elevation’s team of seasoned production and distribution executives are committed to bringing an elevated and robust film and television slate to audiences.
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For more information contact:
Alma Parvizian
Touchwood PR
alma@touchwoodpr.com
416-593-0777 x202
Photos from left to right: Michael Greyeyes, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Forrest Goodluck