“Buddy” has found a home.
Roadside Attractions and Saban Films have acquired North American rights to “Buddy,” the feature film debut of Casper Kelly, who created the viral short film “Too Many Cooks.” Produced by BoulderLight Pictures and Low Spark Films, in association with Sipur Studios and Substance, the film premiered in the Midnight section at the Sundance Film Festival and the Festival Favorites section at SXSW. “Buddy” will open exclusively in theatrical wide release on Sept. 4.
“Set inside a children’s television show gone horribly wrong,” per the logline, the film stars Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Topher Grace, Keegan-Michael Key, Michael Shannon and Patton Oswalt.
According to the official synopsis, the film “embraces the aesthetic of classic children’s television — complete with catchy songs and familiar tropes — before subverting it with a relentless descent into madness. The result is a one-of-a-kind genre experience that is as wickedly sharp as it is horrifying.”
Roadside Attraction co-presidents Howard Cohen and Eric d’Arbeloff shared in a Thursday statement, “’Buddy’ was everyone’s favorite movie at Sundance because we watched in horror as the familiar became the deranged and comfort food turned to poison. Theatrical audiences are in for a major treat.”
“Casper Kelly is one of the most wildly inventive and audacious filmmakers working today, and ‘Buddy’ is a testament to his singular genius,” Jonathan Saban and Shanan Becker, co-Presidents of Saban Films, agreed. “He possesses a rare aptitude for taking the wholesome nostalgia of our childhoods and flipping it into a brilliantly unhinged, laugh-out-loud nightmare. We are absolutely thrilled to partner with Roadside to bring Casper’s uniquely twisted vision to audiences nationwide.”
Kelly added, “It’s an honor to be partnering with Roadside Attractions and Saban Films, two companies that have built reputations for championing bold films. The theatrical experience means so much to me personally, and I made ‘Buddy’ to be experienced in a theater. I’m thrilled that audiences will get the chance to see the movie in theaters everywhere.”
Kelly was also responsible for the Emmy-nominated series “Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell” and the “Cheddar Goblin” sequence from Panos Cosmatos’ cult classic “Mandy.”
“Buddy” is a BoulderLight Pictures and Low Spark Films production in association with Sipur Studios and Substance. It was written by Kelly and Jamie King, produced by Tyler Davidson, Drew Sykes, Raphael Margules, J.D. Lifshitz and Tracy Rosenblum, with Kevin Flanigan, Dexter Braff, Roberto Linck, Nathan McAuley, Emilio Schenker, Gideon Tadmor, Adam J. Wilde, Geoff Yaw and Ryan J. Kelly serving as executive producers.
