Verve Ventures has boarded Jerome Sable’s black comedy “Wolf of the North” for North American sales ahead of its bow at Frontières at TIFF: The Market.
One of seven projects in the genre showcase which is co-presented by the Fantasia International Film Festival and the inaugural TIFF: The Market on Sept. 12, “Wolf of the North” stars Canadian actor and comedian Pat Thornton as an obsessive wildlife star-wannabe trying to finish the last work of his more-famous father, who was eaten by Arctic wolves 30 years ago while making a film about them.
“‘Wolf of the North’ has that rare combination of a genuinely distinctive comic voice and a premise you understand immediately,” Verve Ventures head Amy Beecroft told Variety. “It’s funny, strange, deeply Canadian and surprisingly universal. It’s exactly the kind of filmmaker-driven project we’re excited to champion.”
Michael Paszt of Raven Banner Entertainment, which has Canadian distribution, said the project “hits that sweet spot we’re always chasing at Raven Banner: a bold, filmmaker-driven film with a distinct voice, a sharp sense of humor, and unapologetically Canadian.” and Sable – whose previous films include SXSW-premiering horror musical comedy “Stage Fright” and the multi-award-winning horror musical short “The Legend of Beaver Dam,” (which played Sitges, Fantastic Fest and Screamfest LA – developed the title’s main character Farley Pruitt Jr. and co-wrote the mockumentary-style script with Thornton, the pair drawing inspiration from star-director collaborations such as “Foot Fist Way” and “Bottle Rocket.”
