Deadline reports that retired professional hockey player Miles Koules is getting into the business of producing films, launching a production company called Koulest Productions. For his first project, he’s teaming up with his father Oren Koules, the producer of the Saw franchise, to make a survival thriller called Ski Weekend, based on a novel that was written by former international trial attorney Liani Kotcher under the pen name Rektok Ross.
The story of Ski Weekend centers on
six teens stranded in the mountains who are forced to make impossible choices about who will live and who will die.
As he gets into producing, Miles Koules is planning to “bring his fresh perspective and hunger for new IP to his company, while benefiting from his father’s decades of experience and expertise in developing projects.” The younger Koules provided the following statement:
Being a professional athlete has helped me hone my drive and dedication to success, but my passion has always been in discovering excellent storytelling. I’m so excited to begin this journey, grateful for the support, expertise, and guidance of my family along the way. When I first started my production company I knew Ski Weekend was the type of project I wanted to work on right away. With many other potential films and shows on my slate, my father and I agreed that this was an obvious choice for our first project as Rektok Ross is a force to be reckoned with and is known for her exciting storytelling with strong female leads at the forefront. In Ski Weekend, Rektok has crafted a timely, fast-paced survival story that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end, wondering what you would do to survive. But even more than that is her framing of the important issues of today with layered, diverse teen characters navigating questions of life, death, and everything in between. It’s not often you stumble upon a thriller with this level of depth, and I knew upon reading the book that it needed to be brought to the screen. I can’t wait to show everyone what we have been working on!”
Oren Koules added,
I am so excited to be able to partner with my son and pass the torch to Miles! I can’t wait to impart my 30-plus years experience and expertise and shepherd a new generation of talent into the producing world. I have known Rektok Ross for over 13 years and her drive to create characters and tell stories is second to none. Miles has chosen the right first project for Koulest in Ski Weekend!”
And Kotcher/Ross had this to say:
Ski Weekend has a special place in my heart. As a teen once myself and now a mother to three stepchildren, it was important to me to tell a story that’s accessible to kids and adults alike about the harm of stereotyping and prejudging one another – especially in today’s current climate. I’m so excited to be working with Oren and Miles as they are true visionaries who understood the heart of this book from the very start.”
Ski Weekend sounds interesting to me, so I look forward to seeing how this is going to turn out. Have you read the Rektok Ross novel? If so, let us know what you thought about it by leaving a comment below.