Upgrade Productions has acquired worldwide sales rights outside Australia and New Zealand to actor Rachel House’s directorial debut The Mountain ahead of its North American premiere at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Jonathan Kier and Matt Brodlie’s Upgrade Productions will launch sales talks at the festival next month on the adventure story from Piki Films and Sandy Lane Productions about three children on a secret mission to climb Taranaki Mountain in New Zealand.
The film is currently the number one New Zealand film across New Zealand and Australia and has earned close to $600,000 in the two countries, releasing in Australia via Madman Entertainment and in New Zealand through Taika Waititi and Carthew Neal’s Piki Films. The TIFF Centrepiece selection screens to press and industry on September 6 and to the public on September 11.
“When I started this project I knew I wanted audiences everywhere to see some of the wisdom and magic that exists within the natural world, said House, “and to fall in love with our adventurous kids who discover that friendship can see you through just about everything.”
House, best known for roles in Hunt For The Wilderpeople, Boy, Whale Rider, Moana, and HBO show Our Flag Means Death, co-wrote the screenplay with Tom Furniss. The Mountain stars newcomers Elizabeth Atkinson, Reuben Francis, and Terence Daniel, alongside Troy Kingi, Byron Coll, Fern Sutherland, and Sukena Shah.
Upgrade Productions co-president Kier called House’s “soulful directorial debut” an “outstanding family adventure”.
The Mountain is produced by Desray Armstrong and Morgan Waru, with Neal, Waititi and Madman co-founder and CEO Paul Wiegard serving as executive producers.
The film is made with funding from New Zealand Film Commission, the New Zealand Government’s Screen Production Grant, NZ On Air, Whaakata Māori, Department of Post, Native Audio, Nude Run, and Hillfarrance, and is financed in association with Kiwibank.
No comments yet