ScreenDaily is reporting that Bankside Films has secured a number of international deals for Lee Cronin’s feature debut, the psychological horror The Hole in the Ground.
Rising star Seána Kerslake plays a young single mother who is trapped between rationality and the unexplained as she becomes convinced her little boy has been transformed by something sinister from the depths of a mysterious sinkhole. Cronin co-wrote the script with Stephen Shields (The Republic of Telly). The film also features James Quinn Markey (Vikings), James Cosmo (T2 Trainspotting), Simone Kirby (Jimmy’s Hall), Steve Wall (An Klondike) and Kati Outinen (Le Havre).
Writer/director Cronin is best known for his multi-award-winning short Ghost Train, which won the Melies D’Argent Award for Best Fantastic Short Film in 2015. He is reunited on this project with DoP Tom Comerford, as well as with producers John Keville and Conor Barry of Savage Productions. Conor Dennison (A Dark Song) is production designer and Colin Campbell (The Young Offenders) is the editor.
In addition to Savage Productions, The Hole in the Ground is co-produced by Benoit Roland of Wrong Men in Belgium and Ulla Simonen of MADE in Finland. It is funded by Irish Film Board / Bord Scannán na hÉireann, the BAI and Headgear Films with support coming from Wallimages and the Finnish Film Foundation. Hilary Davis and Stephen Kelliher executive produce for Bankside Films
The deals stuck by Bankside include those for the Baltic States (Latvian Theatrical Distribution), China (Huashi TV), CIS (Exponenta), Germany (Welt Kino), Italy (Koch Media), Latin America (Cinepolis), Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand (Sahamongkol Films), Middle East (Front Row Entertainment), Poland (M2 Films), South Korea (Scene & Sound), Switzerland (Praesens), Taiwan (Deep Joy), and Turkey (Siyah Beyaz).
Wildcard Distribution will release The Hole in the Ground in Ireland later this year.
Bankside also struck deals for Rowan Athale’s Strange But True and Adam Randall’s I See You.
We are thrilled on behalf of our filmmakers to see such a positive reaction across the current slate and to be working with our first-class distribution partners round the world.
Stephen Kelliher, Director – Bankside Films