11 Jul DEADLINE: Freestyle Acquires Musical Feature ‘Past Future’ & Dramatic Thriller ‘Albatross’ – Film Briefs
EXCLUSIVE: Freestyle Digital Media has acquired North American rights to the musical feature Past Future, and to Myles Yaksich’s first feature, Albatross. The digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group plans to release the former title across VOD platforms on July 26, unveiling the latter on August 2.
Past Future examines one day in the life of an American family in the summer of 2020. The film is billed as a meditation on where we’ve been, where we are and where we might go as we share this world and pass through time together. Alexander Baack served as the film’s writer, director and producer, also starring alongside his real-life wife, Hillary Baack.
Albatross is a dramatic thriller in which worlds collide at an awkward dinner party in 1959 New England. After moving to a new town, Elizabeth (Katherine Gauthier) and Thomas Miller (Romaine Waite) are at a crossroad; they are childless, he’s an unpublished writer and she’s tired of cutting checks to keep them afloat. Thomas’ work suffers to the point that his publisher wants him to ditch his novel about the Black experience to write a more commercially viable harlequin romance. Carol (Sarah Orenstein) and Dr. Lloyd Burke (David Keeley0 have built an imposing façade glorifying the societal ideals of the era; an impressive home, prominent role at the country club, and son studying medicine. But, behind closed doors, the couple’s haunted by the cracks in their relationship and his use of controversial psychiatric techniques. The film written and directed by Yaksich is riddled with opposing philosophical perspectives, forcing the characters to question the stability of their respective relationships and consider how the past or future will continue to nurture or deteriorate them. Ultimately, tables are turned, secrets revealed, and we’re left questioning who really pulls the strings in this game of chess.
Albatross also stars Jill Frappier, David Huband, Thom Nyhuus, Mikaela Bisson, Daniel Krmpotic and Jonathon LeRose. The film was produced by James Mark and Bruno Marino, with Jennie Lew Tugend, Myles Yaksich, Aleksey Petrov, Larry & Gayle Yaksich, and Todd Slater serving as executive producers.
Freestyle Digital Media negotiated the deal to acquire Albatross directly with Todd Slater of Slater Brothers Entertainment, negotiating the deal for Past Future with Alexander Baack of Force Studios. Watch the trailers for both films below.