London and New York-based sales company The Mise En Scène Company has acquired international rights to a pair of genre titles launching at the European Film Market: crime thriller “Forge” and psychological thriller “Desert Road.”
“Forge,” which received its world premiere at SXSW, marks the feature directorial debut of AFI Conservatory graduate Jing Ai Ng. The film stars Kelly Marie Tran (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” “The Rise of Skywalker”) and Andie Ju (“Beef”) as siblings Coco, a uniquely talented painter, and Raymond, a natural hustler. The pair accept a millionaire’s offer to replace and sell his family’s art collection as an underappreciated FBI agent, hungry for a career-making case, closes in.
Shannon Tripplett’s “Desert Road,” which also screened at SXSW, follows a young photographer who, after a car breakdown on a remote desert road, finds herself lost in a time loop and must master its rules to engineer an escape before she is trapped forever. The cast includes Kristine Froseth (“The Assistant,” “How to Blow Up a Pipeline,” “Her Private Hell”), with Beau Bridges (“The Descendants”) and Ryan Hurst (“Saving Private Ryan”) in supporting roles. Steven Schnider (“Paranormal Activity,” “Insidious,” “Split”) and Roy Lee (“Barbarian,” “Weapons,” “The Long Walk”) serve as producers.
The acquisitions expand MSC’s EFM lineup, which also features “Forelock,” starring David Krumholtz (“Oppenheimer”) and Caleb Alexander Smith (“All’s Fair”), and “Billy Knight,” toplining Al Pacino (“The Godfather”), Charlie Heaton (“Stranger Things”) and Diana Silvers (“Booksmart”).
“I am so excited to be launching ‘Forge’ and ‘Desert Road’ at EFM,” said MSC CEO Paul Yates. “My love of film business began at this market, and I will forever be in awe at what Beki Probst achieved founding the market. I can’t think of a better place to launch these two amazing titles together with our incredible slate than at this year’s European Film Market in Berlin.”
Firebrand Media Group, led by Josh Clayton, will distribute “Desert Road” theatrically in the U.S. later this year.