Stealth Media boards Ben Hopkins' Epic

Matthew Macfadyen, Noah Taylor and Myanna Buring star in the gentle black comedy about a washed-up filmmaker who is invited to make a film in an obscure Caucasus Republic.

Stealth is showing first footage to buyers at the EFM.

Hopkins wrote the script with Pawel Pawlikowski, and the project’s development was backed by the BFI. After shooting in Georgia near the border with Azerbaijan, the production will move to Frankfurt later this month.

Mike Downey and Sam Taylor’s Film And Music Entertainment is producing alongside Hessen-based Brandstorm Entertainment, Metra Films’ Artem Vasiliev in Moscow and Tbilisi’s 20 Steps, owned by Vladimer Katcharava. Stephen Daldry is executive producing.

Other key financiers of the film are the British Film Institute (London), HessenInvestFilm Fund (Frankfurt), CinePlus (Berlin/Frankfurt), the Franco-German Cultural Channel ARTE, German film distributor Piffl, and the Georgian National Film Centre. Post will be done in Germany from March 15.

“The shoot has been a real roller-coaster to date,” said producer Mike Downey.

“It has been a punishing schedule but our incredible Georgian partners have pulled out all of the stops and have provide the perfect platform for us to shoot not only in amazing locations - but with the space and comfort we needed to really enjoy the fine comedy that this is turning out to be.

“We look forward to the response from buyers to the first footage. It’s playful, intelligent, witty and genuinely funny, and the lead performances are world class. As is Georgia as a location, I can see it being the up and coming place to shoot in the coming years.”

“We are delighted to be able to be participating in this truly commercial international comedy of real scale and size,” added 20 Steps Vova Katcharava.

“We have already begun pre-selling the film and it has already secured a significant German theatrical release. We look forward to introducing the film to buyers in Berlin and to working with Sam and Mike again.”