Red & Black Films, Production Company of Sci-Fi Hit THE MACHINE to launch DON’T KNOCK TWICE starring Katee Sackhoff in Cannes

Red & Black Films is run by the multi award winning team behind 'The Machine’ Caradog James (Writer/Director) and John Giwa-Amu (Producer). Their indie-hit ‘The Machine’ sold out internationally in 2013. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and played in premier festivals all over the world. It was number 2 in the UK iTunes Chart and number 5 in the US iTunes Chart and had the dubious distinction of being the most illegally downloaded movie in the world in its first week of theatrical release. The distribution campaign for The Machine was financed by Red & Black Films, Altara and Film Cymru Wales, partnered with Content, AR PR and Incite. The distribution and marketing campaign was so successful that it won a Screen Award.
A supernatural horror called ‘Don’t Knock Twice’ is the duo’s new collaboration. It has its market premier in Cannes this week and stars Lucy Boynton (Sing Street, Rebel in the Rye), Katee Sackhoff (Oculus, Riddick) and Nick Moran (Lock Stock). The film was 100% financed from the company’s home territory Wales, with partners including Ffilm Cymru Wales, Pinewood Pictures, Welsh Government and Altara. After the success of ‘The Machine’ Content Media will team up again to handle international Sales.
Since ‘The Machine’s’ success the company have engaged in rapidly expanding body of work. NBC Universal picked up the film to become a TV series last year with the project announced by Universal in Comicon.
‘The Silent Storm’ Co-Produced by Red & Black Films stars Damian Lewis and Andrea Riseborough and is released in theatres in May. International sales by Westend and Sony Pictures, co-produced with Neon Films, The British Film Company, Film Cymru Wales, Corniche, HW Buffalo & Co, New Sparta and Barbara Broccoli’s Eon Films.
Also in cinemas this year is Red & Black Film’s ‘The Call Up’, a high-concept Sci-Fi about augmented reality. It was financed by Creative England, Pont Neuf and Marzipan and is being sold by Altitude. It premiered last month in Belgium’s BIFFF and enjoyed brilliant reviews after its UK premier last Friday as closing film of Sci-Fi London.
Next up on Red & Black Films’ slate is a star driven Sci-Fi thriller about time travel called ‘Hindsight’. The film will be directed by Caradog and produced by John. The film will move into production in 2017 and will be pitched to selected financiers during this year’s Cannes Market.
Caradog stock as a director is rapidly rising having been commissioned by Skydance (Terminator, Mission Impossible, World War Z) to write and direct a new major motion picture as well as being attached to direct another studio picture at Warner Bros.
John has been selected to become part of the globally recognised production and financing initiative ‘Inside Pictures' 2016/17 and will travel to LA with the course in September to be mentored by various studio and funding executives. Screen has named John as one of the industry’s Future Leaders and he’s also been honoured as one of the BFI’s Breakthrough Brits.
Supported by Film Cymru Wales, Red & Black Films are in the process of investing into a range of elevated material across film, Virtual Reality and TV. They intend to bring the same quality and ambition to both small screen and emerging VR formats which the duo are very excited about for the coming year.
Together the partnership have won a raft of awards including 6 Welsh BAFTAs, a BIFA, a Screen Award, as well as winning Best Picture awards at Raindance, Cartagena, and Toronto After Dark. Their films have garnered glowing reviews and received nominations at The Moscow Film festival and premier festivals around the world.
ABOUT RED AND BLACK FILMS
Red and Black Films is a production, financing and distribution company run by Producer John Giwa-Amu and Writer/Director Caradog James.
Supernatural thriller DON'T KNOCK TWICE will be released in late 2016. The film stars Katee Sackhoff (Oculus, Riddick, Battlestar Galactica), Lucy Boynton (Sing Street, Rebel in the Rye, Miss Potter) and Nick Moran (Lock Stock). The film was produced by John Giwa-Amu, directed by Caradog James, scripted by Emmy nominated writing duo Huckerby and Ostler and is coproduced with Seymour films.
Brit List winning Sci-Fi screenplay THE CALL UP will be be released in cinemas 2016. The film is being Produced alongside Stigma Films and was directed by award winning commercials director, Charles Barker. It received a world premiere at BIFF and UK premier at Sci-Fi London.
John co-produced THE SILENT STORM starring Damian Lewis (Homeland) and Andrea Riseborough (Oblivion) with Neon Films, Barbara Broccoli's Eon Films, New Sparta, The British Film Company and Ffilm Cymru Wales. THE SILENT STORM was selected for its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival and is being distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures.
Sci-Fi Thriller, THE MACHINE, starring Toby Stephens (Die Another Day, Black Sails), Caity Lotz (The Pact, Arrow) and Denis Lawson (Star Wars). Red and Black produced and distributed with a cinema release in March 2014, hitting number 2 in the UK iTunes charts and number 5 in USA and Germany. The film had its’ world premiere in Tribeca, won a British Independent Film Award, Best Sci-Fi and Best Actress at Toronto After Dark, Three BAFTAs Cymru including Best Film and Best UK Feature of the Raindance Film Festival. Red and Black’s direct distribution campaign for the UK, partnered with Content, won the Screen Award 2014. The Machine has been acquired by Universal/SyFy to be developed as a US TV series.
The company’s first feature LITTLE WHITE LIES saw Caradog nominated as best New Director at BIFA, Official Selection at Moscow and won two BAFTA Cymru Awards. John’s been nominated for the Screen Nation Award twice and is an honouree of the BFI initiative, Breakthrough Brits. His short films have won The 48 Hour Film Challenge and the BBC New Filmmaker Award at Brief Encounters.
In 2014 Ffilm Cymru Wales selected Red and Black Films for a slate development award to further expand the business and they continue to develop a high-concept range of projects in film and television weighted towards elevated genre.
John sits on the board of BAFTA Cymru and Film Cymru Wales and was listed as a Future Leader by Screen International during Cannes 2015.
BIOGRAPHY - JOHN GIWA-AMU (PRODUCER)
Supernatural thriller DON'T KNOCK TWICE premiers in Cannes 2016 produced by John, staring Katee Sackhoff (Oculus, Battlestar Galactica) Nick Moran (Lock Stock) and Lucy Boynton (Miss Potter), is in post production. The film was directed by Caradog James, co-produced with Seymor Films and has been scripted by Emmy nominated writing duo Huckerby and Ostler.
John also produced Brit List winning Sci-Fi screenplay THE CALL UP which is released in theatres May 2016. The film was produced alongside Stigma Films and was directed by award winning commercials director, Charles Barker. THE CALL UP is being sold by Altitude, distributed by E1 and Altitude and will be released in cinemas May 2016.
John also co-produced THE SILENT STORM starring Damian Lewis (Homeland) and Andrea Riseborough (Oblivion) with Sony Pictures, Neon Films, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson’s Eon Films, New Sparta, The British Film Company and Ffilm Cymru Wales. THE SILENT STORM had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival and is released in cinemas May 2016.
Produced by John and written/directed by Caradog James Sci-Fi Thriller, THE MACHINE, starred Toby Stephens (Die Another Day, Black Sails), Caity Lotz (The Pact, Arrow) and Denis Lawson (Star Wars) was released in cinemas March 2014 and hit number 2 in the UK iTunes charts and number 5 in USA and Germany. The film had its’ world premiere in Tribeca, won a British Independent Film Award for , Best Sci-Fi Feature and Best Actress at Toronto After Dark, Three BAFTAs Cymru including Best Picture and Best UK Feature of the Raindance Film Festival.
John's first feature was the BIFA nominated LITTLE WHITE LIES, Official Selection at Moscow and winner of two BAFTA Wales Awards. He’s been nominated for the Screen Nation Award twice and is an honouree of the BFI initiative, Breakthrough Brits. His short films as director/producer have won The 48 Hour Film Challenge, a BAFTA Wales and the BBC Talent Award at Brief Encounters.
In Cannes 2015 John was named one of the world’s most promising new producers by Screen International in its yearly showcase, Future Leaders. He has been selected for one of the world’s premier financing and production courses, Inside Pictures.
John sits on the Pact Film Policy Group, Ffilm Cymru Wales, BAFTA Cymru and has guest lectured at The National Film and Television School and The University of Wales.
John’s and Caradog’s company Red and Black Films continues to develop and finance a high-concept slate weighted towards elevated genre.
BIOGRAPHY - CARADOG JAMES (WRITER/DIRECTOR)
Caradog started work as a stills photographer before becoming a writer and director. He has been commissioned to write screenplays for Skydance, SyFy, NBCUniversal, Dan Films, ITV and received development funding from the UKFC/BFI, The Film Agency of Wales and MEDIA.
His screenplays include an adaptation of Douglas Coupland’s best‐selling novel MISS WYOMING and a re‐write of THIS BEAUTIFUL FANTASTIC which made the 2009 Brit List. His horror script for Dan Films (Creep, Severance) HARRY’S BLONDE was selected for the 2013 Brit List and selected for Montreal’s exclusive 2013 Frontières International Co‐Production Market.
Caradog’s first feature film as a director was LITTLE WHITE LIES. It won Best Actor and Best Actress at the BAFTA Cymru awards and was nominated in four other categories including Best Picture and Best Director.
Caradog was also nominated for the Douglas Hickox Best New Director Award at the BIFAs, and the film was selected for competition at the Moscow International Film Festival. It has won numerous awards at European film festivals and was listed in Variety’s top 10 British Films of that year.
His second feature film THE MACHINE was selected from over 6000 films to premiere in the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival. It has since played in festivals all over the world including Sitges, Fantasia Montreal, Lund, Toronto After Dark and Raindance. It was number 2 in the UK iTunes Chart and number 5 in the US iTunes Chart.
THE MACHINE has won 3 BAFTA Cymru awards including Best Film, and has won the prestigious Best UK Feature Film award at the Raindance International Film Festival. It has won ‘Best Sci‐Fi’ and ‘Best Actress’ in the Toronto After Dark Film Festival and it has also been nominated for 2 British Independent Film Awards, winning the BIFA for exceptional achievement of filmmakers working against the odds.
He is currently attached to direct a project for Warner Brothers, writing and directing feature film for Skydance (Mission Impossible, Star Trek), writing a TV pilot for SyFy and NBCUniversal, and has just completed his latest feature film as director ‘DON’T KNOCK TWICE’ a horror film starring Katee Sackhoff (Oculus, Riddick), Nick Moran (Lock Stock) and Lucy Boynton (Sing Street).
ABOUT FFILM CYMRU WALES
Ffilm Cymru Wales supports the development of a creative, innovative and inclusive film culture.
Funding and support is prioritised around Make, See and Learn banners encouraging emerging and established filmmaking talent to develop their projects and businesses; exploring opportunities to reach wider audiences across Wales and beyond; and providing opportunities to engage and develop new skills through education resources, training and events.
ABOUT PINEWOOD
Pinewood Pictures is part of the Pinewood Studios Group, funding TV and film productions, as well as games, on behalf of the Isle of Man Media Fund and The Welsh Government’s Media Investment Budget. It also invests Pinewood’s own funds in projects and distributes films in the UK.
Projects include SPOOKS: THE GREATER GOOD and PRESSURE, which it distributed in the UK, BELLE, DOM HEMINGWAY, GENIUS and up-and-coming action comedy MINDHORN and the eagerly anticipated THEIR FINEST HOUR AND A HALF.
The Pinewood Studios Group is a leading provider of studio and related services to the global film and television industry. Pinewood Pictures has a range of funding options available to UK Film and TV productions, including equity finance investment, gap finance and discounting of the UK tax credit and pre-sales of a project.
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