Former Shudder chief Craig Engler left the streaming service a couple months ago, shortly after overseeing the release of the horror film Skinamarink, which was made on a budget of $15,000 and earned over $2 million during its theatrical run. Now Variety reports that Engler has teamed up with The Cartel, the production company behind Shudder’s Creepshow series, to launch Shiver Studios, “a new genre company with plans to make and finance up to 10 horror films a year”!
Variety explains that the Los Angeles-based studio will focus on a theatrical-first approach, looking to ride the recent trend of indie horror hits. The overall plan is for Shiver to follow its theatrical releases with a TVOD, SVOD, AVOD, linear and physical windowing strategy, working with partners that include both streamers and traditional distributors.
The first two films on the Shiver Studios development slate are Incident at Joshua Tree and Bloody Mary.
Incident at Joshua Tree hails from NCIS: Hawai’i and Colony writer/producer Noah Evslin. The chiller involves a trail of cryptic social media posts used as clues by a 30-year-old guidance counselor who travels to Joshua Tree to locate her fiancé who vanished while on an overnight camping trip with his three best friends. Dave Brown and Zadoc Angell of Echo Lake will also produce.
Bloody Mary comes from writer/producer Cameron Larson (The Legend of La Llorona). This one sees six soon-to-be college students trapped in a creepy plantation home in Louisiana during a hurricane. They decide to play the film’s titular scary game involving standing in front of a mirror in the dark holding a candle, and spinning three times saying “Bloody Mary” with each spin. Soon, one by one, the teens are mysteriously murdered. Larson will also serve as a producer.
Stan Spry, Co-CEO of Cartel Pictures, had this to say about the creation of Shiver Studios: “When Craig Engler approached the Cartel about partnering on a new horror studio, we jumped at the opportunity. Craig’s knowledge and relationships in the horror space and horror community are unparalleled. His expertise combined with Cartel’s production, financing and distribution infrastructure makes Shiver Studios a very exciting opportunity.“
Engler added: “The theatrical experience has always been key to the success of great horror franchises, and with theaters back in full swing we’re seeing a huge demand from people who want to see scary movies in person again. At Shudder we focused on curating movies for the streaming audience, but Shiver Studios is going to curate films for a theater-first approach, with an emphasis on smart concepts that can create future horror franchises.“
Engler, Spry, and The Cartel’s Eric Woods will serve as Co-CEOs of Shiver Studios.
It’s always good to see more companies focusing on horror, so I look forward to finding out what Shiver Studios is going to bring us in the future.