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| Hex Studios will be based in Fife |
The studio will be based in a Gothic revival church in Fife, which it says will focus on bold and original storytelling with the aim of nurturing diverse voices.
Hex Studios is the brainchild of Hex Media founder and producer/director Lawrie Brewster who will head the project along with partner Sarah Daly and co-founders Richard Pate, Nick Ford and Bill Eikost.
Hex plans to develop a studio company and production space which will house a green screen studio, sound recording facilities and special effects workshop, as well as serving as a hub for the genre with regular events and screenings.
The first production from Hex Studios will be horror anthology For We Are Many. Stars appearing in the project include Eileen Dietz (The Exorcist) and Laurence Harvey (The Human Centipede II).
Daly said: "For We Are Many is a demon-theme anthology feature film, consisting of horror shorts made especially for the project by filmmakers from all over the world. We also presently have six Scottish shorts in the mix, with more to come. We put out an open call to filmmakers to get involved, as we were eager to give a platform to new voices who could then use the project as a showcase for future work. This is something we intend to do more of with Hex Studios, with a series of anthologies as well as a slate of B-Movies which we will develop alongside new talent. We also have a new feature which will be released next year called Automata, which is a totally wild, utterly debauched horror film about a cursed clockwork doll.
Indie filmmaker Roger Corman spoke out in support of the new venture. He said: “Hex Studios is an ambitious new project which aims to rekindle the spirit of classic horror cinema, and gives me hope for the future of original, independent filmmaking."
Brewster said: “Hex Studios is inspired by the glory days of Hammer Horror at Bray Studios. It’s more than just a physical production space or a studio company, it's a grass-roots movement that seeks to pursue a revolutionary approach to the art and business of filmmaking.”
Sarah Daly added: “We want to foster a resurgence in the great British tradition of horror filmmaking, as well as providing opportunities for aspiring writers, actors and filmmakers in Scotland and all over the world.
"We've been making feature films in Fife with our current company Hex Media for about seven years now, and we've seen the wonderful talent that Scotland has to offer in every aspect of film. But there's not always the right framework here to support this talent, and to grow the grassroots industry here, so we're expanding our operations, to increase production and create more opportunities for aspiring creatives in Fife, and across the world actually."
- Read what Lawrie Brewster and Sarah Daly told us about their project The Black Gloves here
