Nightmares Film Festival announced earlier this month that ALTER, the new horror brand from global studio Gunpowder & Sky, will attend the event live with a first-look deal to acquire new films
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“Gunpowder and Sky is a tastemaking, trend-setting studio with a tradition of both acquiring and producing genre gems,” said festival co-founder Chris Hamel. “Their approach is a perfect fit with our #BetterHorror program, and we couldn’t be happier to have them aboard for Nightmares 19.”
As part of the agreement, staff will attend Nightmares Film Festival live, where they will meet with filmmakers and screenwriters and evaluate selections for possible acquisition by the studio under its horror short imprint, ALTER, or sci-fi shorts brand, Dust.
While they’re there, the Gunpowder & Sky/ALTER staff also will participate on a panel to share an inside look at acquisitions and distribution with attending filmmakers.
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“We have been watching the program at Nightmares since it began in 2016, and it is consistently among the best in the world,” said Sophie Carroll, ALTER’s head of programming. “We knew we wanted to be part of the event, and we’re thrilled to be attending in 2019.”
Nightmare Film Festival has been called one of the world’s best horror film festivals by every major genre outlet. For 30 months running, it has been the world’s top-rated genre festival on the submission platform FilmFreeway.
Nightmares returns to Columbus, Ohio’s Gateway Film Center with its 2019 edition October 24 to 27. Stay tuned to Horror Geek Life for event coverage!
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This is really disturbing to hear, primarily because Gunpowder and Sky and their ancillary channels Alter and Dust are predatory companies that look to take advantage of new filmmakers through making trick deals where they control all the ancillary rights to the filmmaker’s work in perpetuity. If you were considering submitting to this festival, I would absolutely reconsider, as Gunpowder having a “first look” probably means your chain of title is going to be ruined if you even submit to the festival. I would, at the very least, hire a lawyer to look at the submission form for the festival to make sure you are signing the rights of your film away just by submitting. The WGA or DGA can recommend someone if you don’t have representation.
It’s distressing that festivals who look to put new filmmakers on the map would invite in the very people who are doing the most damage to new filmmakers. I hope Nightmares reconsiders this partnership as they are putting people in danger.