Berlin

Highland Film Group Secures First Look Output Deal with Ryan Winterstern and Nathan Klingher’s  Newly Launched Production Entity

HIGHLAND FILM GROUP HANDLING INTERNATIONAL SALES

WITH CAA MEDIA FINANCE REPPING DOMESTIC

Leading independent worldwide sales agent Highland Film Group announced today that it has entered into a non-exclusive first look output deal with Ryan Winterstern and Nathan Klingher’s newly launched production company Short Porch Pictures. Under the far-reaching deal, Highland Film Group will represent worldwide or international sales rights, depending on the project, to feature films produced by Short Porch Pictures.

Academy Award® nominee Alec Baldwin (The Departed, “30 Rock”) has been cast in the first film greenlit under the non-exclusive distribution arrangement titled Supercell. The new disaster action film is directed by Herbert James Winterstern (NBC’s “Siberia”) from a script by Winterstern & Anna Elizabeth James (Deadly Illusions). Ryan Winterstern (Most Wanted, Inheritance), Nathan Klingher (Zone 414, Becky), and Thomasville Pictures’ Ryan Donnell Smith (Netflix’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, The Tax Collector) are producing. Anjul Nigam (Crown Vic) will serve as an executive producer. This will be the second film produced under the Short Porch Pictures banner for Winterstern and Klingher, as well as the second film Thomasville Pictures and Short Porch Pictures have produced together having recently wrapped principal photography on One Way, starring Colson Baker, Kevin Bacon, Storm Reid, and Travis Fimmel. 

The film will start principal photography in 2021 on location in Montana and Georgia. The film is financed by Ryan Donnell Smith and Emily Savelson’s Streamline Global. Highland Film Group is introducing the film to international buyers at the upcoming virtual European Film Market with CAA Media Finance representing its domestic distribution rights.

Supercell is an epic disaster movie that tells the tale of William, a good-hearted teenager, who always lived in hope of following in his father’s footsteps, the legendary storm chaser Bill Brody, killed by a massive super tornado. His father’s legacy has now been turned into a storm-chasing tourist business, managed by the greedy and reckless Zane Rogers (Alec Baldwin), who is now using William as the main attraction to lead a group of unsuspecting adventurers deep into the eye of the most dangerous supercell ever seen.

"Ryan and Nathan are two of the industry’s rising stars in the independent production arena so we are delighted to be collaborating with them and their new company. They have great taste, endless energy and with Supercell out of the gate – we know we are in for a wild ride,” said Highland Film Group CEO Arianne Fraser. "Alec Baldwin is beloved in the international marketplace. You couple him with an amazing script filled with perilous life and deaths adventures in the hands of a very talented team and you have a winning combination our buyers will love," continued company COO Delphine Perrier.

“We are excited about our new venture and partnership with Highland Film Group. We believe strongly in the strength of the independent film market moving forward and have created a structure to best maximize our ability to create exceptional content for years to come. Supercell is a terrific beginning in what will become a prosperous relationship for all of us,” said Winterstern and Klingher.

Baldwin is the Academy Award nominee and three-time Golden Globe and Emmy winner, who starred in box office hit films including Beetlejuice, The Hunt for Red October, and It’s Complicated. As one of the strongest industry powerhouses of our time, Baldwin won multiple Emmys for his leading role in NBC’s “30 Rock” and for portraying Former President Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live.” Most recently, he starred in Motherless Brooklyn, the last two Mission: Impossible films, and executive produced the Sundance Film Festival’s official selection Beast Beast. 

Director Winterstern was awarded the USC Film School Thomas B. Bush Memorial Scholarship for excellence in cinematography and directing. Winterstern became one of the youngest filmmakers to direct, edit and produce the NBC prime time drama series “Siberia.” In 2015, he created SwipeMarket; a creative agency focused on bringing entertainment to Silicon Valley. He has directed and produced over 200 campaigns for brands including Hewlett Packard, Enterprise and Intel. Aside from screenwriting and directing commercials, Winterstern contributes his passions to the Alzheimer's Association in efforts to raise awareness for research and funding.

Highland Film Group’s diversified production and sales slate includes: Mark Neveldine’s Panama starring Cole Hauser and Mel Gibson; Randall Emmett’s Wash Me In The River starring Robert De Niro, Jack Huston and John Malkovich; Michael Polish’s Axis Sally starring Al Pacino; Andrew Baird’s One Way starring Colson ‘Machine Gun Kelly’ Baker, Travis Fimmel, and Kevin Bacon; John D. Eraklis’ Pierre the Pigeon-Hawk with the voices of Whoopi Goldberg and Howie Mandel; Randall Emmett’s Midnight in the Switchgrass starring Bruce Willis, Megan Fox, and Emile Hirsch; The Tiger Rising starring Queen Latifah and Dennis Quaid; Andrew Baird’s Zone 414 starring Guy Pearce, Matilda Lutz and Travis Fimmel; Louise Linton’s Me You Madness, starring Ed Westwick and Linton; Neil Marshall’s The Reckoning released in the US in February 2021; Skylin3s, the third chapter of the successful franchise released in the US in December 2020, starring Lindsey Morgan; Dimitri Logothetis’ Jiu Jitsu starring Nicolas Cage, Tony Jaa and Frank Grillo released in the US in November 2020; and Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion’s Becky starring Lulu Wilson, Kevin James and Joel McHale released in the US in June 2020.

Baldwin is represented by CAA and Matt DelPiano of Cavalry Media.

Robert Benun of BenunLaw negotiated the first look partnership on behalf of Short Porch Pictures.