Vertical Entertainment Acquires “Never Here” On the Eve of Los Angeles FF Premiere; Licenses to Starz Exclusive Premium Pay TV Rights

Vertical Entertainment has acquired U.S. rights to Camille Thoman's "Never Here" starring Mireille Enos, Sam Shepard, Goran Visnjic, Vincent Piazza, Nina Arianda, Ana Nogueira, and Desmin Borges.  The suspense thriller will premiere June 18, 2017.

"At heart, Never Here is a genre-bending journey into loss of self," says Thoman. "I loved the idea of marrying suspense mystery (who done it) with a deeply harrowing psychological tale (who am I). It has been my privilege to collaborate with Mireille Enos, all of our wonderful cast, all of my amazing producers and now Vertical Entertainment on this journey."
 
Installation artist Miranda Fall follows, photographs and documents the lives of strangers to create her art. One night her secret lover witnesses a violent act from Miranda's apartment window. To protect his identity, Miranda poses as the primary witness, making statements to the police about a crime she did not see. She begins to create a new piece of work based on these circumstances. This act sends Miranda into a maze of doubt and fear, blurring the lines between artist and subject.  Writer-director Camille Thoman's debut feature immerses viewers in a taut psychological thriller, with sumptuous imagery and sonic clues that steadily seep into the subconscious mind. Lines of morality blur and nothing is as it seems in this eerily fascinating exploration of identity, voyeurism and loss of self.
 
"I am so proud that Camille's pure vision for Never Here has made it to the screen, and I'm excited that Vertical and Starz are releasing it with such enthusiasm," says Executive Producer Zachary Quinto. "Camille's voice as a filmmaker is imbued in every single frame of this film. The brave tour-de-force performance from our friend Mireille Enos is surrounded by beautiful work from Sam Shepard and the rest of the cast and creative team. I'm looking forward to premiering the movie in competition at the Los Angeles Film Festival this weekend and to getting it out into the world later this year."
 
"We're thrilled to be partnering with Starz and the Never Here team to bring this incredibly visceral film to audiences," says Vertical Co-President Rich Goldberg. "Camille's distinct vision threads an especially unique story that calls for active participation from every viewer."
 
The deal was negotiated by Goldberg and Peter Jarowey at Vertical with Elias Axume at Premiere Entertainment and Elsa Ramo at Ramo Law on behalf of the filmmakers.
 
"Never Here" was written and directed by Camille Thoman, produced by Julian Cautherley, Radium Cheung, Bronwyn Cornelius, Corey Moosa, Camille Thoman, Elizabeth Yng-Wong, executive produced by Greg Ainsworth, Alvin Chau, Luke Daniels, Neal Dodson, Erika Hampson, Brandon K. Hogan, Subi Liang, Dan Milne, Ho-Cheung Pang, Alan Pao, Zachary Quinto, Wenke Sterns, and Alex Tong, co-produced by Jonathan Gardner and Kerri Hundley, with cinematography by Sebastian Wintero, editing by Robin Hill and Camille Thoman, production design by Chris Trujillo, and music by James Lavino.  The film was produced by Wonderbar Productions in association with Before the Door Pictures.

The suspense thriller will have its world premiere screening at the upcoming Los Angeles Film Festival on June 18th, with a day-and-date theatrical release scheduled for Q4 2017 followed by an exclusive premium pay TV debut and run on the STARZ channels and services, including the new STARZ app, in early 2018.
 
About Vertical Entertainment
Vertical Entertainment is a global independent distributor that offers a unique combination of full-service marketing and sales services. Dedicated to providing highly-effective and collaborative solutions, Vertical leverages unparalleled relationships to maximize revenue across all streams. With a collective 60 years of distribution, the marketing and sales expertise from Vertical's seasoned team gives content partners a wealth of experience minus the studio costs.
 
Recently, Vertical won a Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress for Molly Shannon's role in "Other People" and the film won a GLAAD Award for "Outstanding Film Limited Release" as well.  Vertical also had four other Indie Spirit nominations last year – three more for "Other People" (Best Lead Actor for Jesse Plemons, and Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay for filmmaker Chris Kelly) and one for Best International Film for Babak Anvari's "Under the Shadow", which was also the official UK submission for the 2017 Oscars, in addition to winning one BAFTA Award and three British Independent Film Awards as well. 
 
Additional releases for 2017 include Michael Mailer's "Blind" starring Alec Baldwin, Demi Moore, and Dylan McDermott; Damian Harris' "Wilde Wedding" starring Glenn Close, Patrick Stewart, and John Malkovich; Lauren Wolkstein and Christopher Radcliff's "The Strange Ones" starring Alex Pettyfer and James Freedson-Jackson; Mark Williams' "A Family Man" starring Gerard Butler, Alison Brie, Gretchen Mol, Alfred Molina, and Willem Dafoe; William H. Macy's "The Layover" starring Alexandrea Daddario and Kate Upton; and Toa Fraser's "6 Days" starring Abbie Cornish, Jamie Bell, and Mark Strong. 

 

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