Archive for October, 2012

Oscilloscope Wades Into “Wasteland,” Acquires Acclaimed Toronto Heist Thriller / October 18th, 2012

(New York, NY) October 18, 2012 — Oscilloscope Laboratories announced today that it has acquired U.S. rights to Rowan Athale’s acclaimed feature debut Wasteland, from Bankside Films. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last month. Oscilloscope plans a 2013 release for the film.

Athale makes an assured debut with Wasteland, creating a fresh and exciting spin on the heist genre. Harvey Miller, a young Englishman recently released from prison, recruits his three best friends and devises a complex scheme to rob the local drug kingpin (who also happens to be the reason for Harvey’s incarceration). To complicate matters further, Harvey must balance exacting his revenge and pulling off this major score with trying to win back his reluctant but still-caring ex-girlfriend.

Wasteland marks a calling card for Rowan Athale as a major new cinematic voice, whose energetic style is complemented by a strong, authentic sense of place and well-drawn, multi-dimensional characters. The film stars Luke Treadaway (Clash of the Titans, Attack The Block) as Harvey, and features Timothy Spall, Iwan Rheon, Matthew Lewis, Gerard Kearns, and Vanessa Kirby.

Of the acquisition, David Laub of Oscilloscope said, “Wasteland is an incredibly clever and fun piece of filmmaking, and we are thrilled to be able to bring it to US audiences. This is one of the most impressive debut films we’ve seen in a long time—Rowan has taken the classic heist movie and gives it his own unique and exciting spin, creating a vibrant, captivating film that takes the audience on a great ride.”

Filmmaker Rowan Athale said, “Nothing could be more exciting than the prospect of taking Wasteland to the US audience and Oscilloscope are absolutely the right company to do it. The passion that David Laub and Dan Berger have shown for the film is matched only by their understanding of the audience and what it takes to find your place in the market, and I am more than proud to have Wasteland find it’s home with them in the US.”

Wasteland is a Moli-Mischief film, produced by Gareth Pritchard of Mischief Films with Mark Foligno of MoliFilms and Ed Barratt of Hook Pictures. Financiers include MoliFilms, Bankside Films and Lip Sync. Executive producers are Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Norman Merry, Peter Hampden, Brad Moore and Iain Richardson.

The deal was negotiated by David Laub and Dan Berger of Oscilloscope with Stephen Kelliher of Bankside Films, who represented the filmmakers.

The film has previously been sold to Momentum Pictures for UK & Eire, Encore Inflight for world airlines, Hopscotch Films for Australia/New Zealand, Films Distribution for France, Shani Films for Israel, and Nettai Museum for Japan.