STATEN COUSINS ROE SHORTLISTED FOR THE ‘SCREEN INTERNATIONAL GENRE RISING STAR AWARD’ AHEAD OF THE WORLD PREMIERE OF HIS FIRST FEATURE FILM – FEMALE-LED JET-BLACK COMEDY-THRILLER: A SERIAL KILLER’S GUIDE TO LIFE – AT ARROW VIDEO FRIGHTFEST
Arrow Films, on the Arrow Video label, is delighted to announce that A SERIAL KILLER’S GUIDE TO LIFE will celebrate its World Premiere at Arrow Video FrightFest on the 24th August. The film’s breakout British Director Staten Cousins Roe is today shortlisted for the prestigious Screen International Genre Rising Star Award, jointly presented by FrightFest.
Arrow Films have acquired worldwide rights with a view to releasing in the UK, US and Canada early next year, selling the worldwide rights. Its World Premiere at Arrow Video FrightFest in London on Saturday 24th August will be part of their Discovery One screenings which will feature a Q&A with the director.
Established in 2016 to celebrate the work of emerging UK genre talent, this will be the fourth year of the Screen International Genre Rising Star Award. Previous winners include: Alice Lowe, Danny Morgan and Ella Hunt. There are five nominees on the shortlist and the winner is announced at a presentation on Monday 26th August at the Cineworld Screen 2, Leicester Square, 6.30pm.
Described as “Sightseers meets Thelma and Louise”, A SERIAL KILLER’S GUIDE TO LIFE is written and directed by Staten Cousins Roe and produced by Forward Motion Pictures – a multi award-winning production company run by husband and wife team Staten Cousins Roe and Poppy Roe. Their BAFTA long-listed short This Way Out is currently screening on HBO Europe, Sundance Channel Europe, Fandor and Amazon Prime.
Starring Katie Brayben , Poppy Roe, Ben Lloyd-Hughes and Emmy-nominated Sian Clifford , the film follows Lou Farnt: a 30-something, self-help addict who wants nothing more than to escape her overly controlling mother and the dead-end seaside town where she grew up. So when strange and strikingly confident new life coach Val suddenly arrives on the scene and invites her on a road trip of alternative therapies, Lou finds the perfect opportunity to leave, and the perfect person to become. Unfortunately for Lou, Val’s a serial killer.
A jet-black comedy thriller in the same vein as Sightseers, A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life is a frenetic Thelma and Louise guaranteed to satisfy the self-help generation, and the modern human’s blood lust.
Staten Cousins Roe said: “I’m extraordinarily happy to be working with the incredible Arrow Films on my debut feature film A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life – they are absolute tastemakers in cinema, and it’s any filmmaker’s dream to be working with a team as knowledgeable and dedicated to cinema as they are – let alone on your very first film.
“We made A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life completely through self-funding and Kickstarter, via our Brighton based production company Forward Motion Pictures, as a way of taking control of the filmmaking process – shooting it in only two weeks, at over 30 locations, with a 50/50 gender representative cast & crew, and using many of the same team from my pitch-black comedy short This Way Out. It was a heck of a journey about finding ourselves as filmmakers – and to come out the other side working with the team at Arrow is a dream come true.”
Francesco Simeoni (Director of Content and Distribution, Arrow Films) said: “We are thrilled to have partnered with Forward Motion Pictures on releasing their wonderful film A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life, working with our partners on a global release. It’s not only one of the most confident debuts I have ever seen but also a fresh and exciting emergence of a brilliant creative team which we are sure audiences will fall for.”
