13.12.2007
HAMMER FILMS TO RELEASE FIRST MOVIE IN THIRTY YEARS IN JOINT VENTURE WITH MYSPACE
Hammer Films and MySpace today announced a joint venture which will see Hammer’s first horror movie in 30 years broadcast exclusively on MySpace.
The movie, entitled Beyond the Rave, is MySpaceTV’s first UK co-production. It will broadcast episodically on MySpaceTV in Spring 2008 as 20 ‘webisodes’, before being released as a full length movie on DVD, and available for download.
Beyond the Rave has been created specifically for the internet by Pure Grass Films, producers of the award winning movie When Evil Calls, and signifies a dramatic new opportunity in the way traditional media companies are creating content exclusively for the internet. Ben Grass produced Beyond the Rave for Pure Grass Films and the series is directed by Matthias Hoene.
With an exciting British cast including Jamie Dornan (Marie Antoinette), Nora-Jane Noone (The Descent), Tamer Hassan (The Football Factory, Eastern Promises) and Sadie Frost (Dracula, Shopping), Beyond the Rave promises to deliver all the ingredients of a Hammer classic made for a 21st Century audience: vampires, blood, death and suspense throughout.
Simon Oakes, Chairman and Chief Executive, Hammer Film Productions Ltd said:
“This is a bold venture creating horror for the 21st century through a variety of technologies. When Hammer Films first started it was an innovative production company and this new venture marks the beginning of a journey to recalibrate the DNA of Hammer Films for a new audience. MySpace is an innovative and exciting distribution platform to enable people to watch and interact with movie content in a whole new way. To relaunch with MySpaceTV’s first UK co-production is perfect for a company originally born out of a culture of risk-taking and creativity.”
James Fabricant, Director of Entertainment and Head of Video, MySpace Europe, said:
“This partnership demonstrates the power of MySpace and how traditional media is being turned on its head: for Hammer to make their first movie in 30 years specifically for the MySpace community is a phenomenal development and shows the dramatic change in how consumers want to access content.”
MySpace is the world’s number one social network with over 110million unique users (Comscore, October 2008).
Hammer Films launched in 1934 and went onto produce more than 200 movies over the next four decades.
For further information and to see the first trailer, please visit www.myspacetv.com/beyondtherave
ENDS
Enquiries:
For Hammer:
Oliver Hughes / Katie McCrory: Brunswick
0207 404 5959,
hammerhouse@brunswickgroup.com
For MySpace:
Alice Regester
0203 077 4087
aregester@myspace.com
For Beyond The Rave & Hammer:
Ian Johnson / Roxie Maskall
0207 836 3030
info@ianjohnsonpublicity.co.uk
For Pure Grass Films:
Ben Grass
07889 800 719
ben@puregrassfilms.com
Notes to Editors
Hammer Film Productions Ltd
Launched in 1934 Hammer Films’ first production was The Public Life Of Henry The Ninth and, after a period of inactivity during WW2, the first ‘official’ picture from Hammer Films was Dr Morelle – The Case Of The Missing Heiress in 1949. In the 1950s Hammer started to co-produce its films with the US producer Robert Lippert, enabling it to develop the US market. The company’s first colour film was The Men Of Sherwood Forest in 1954 and in 1955 Twentieth Century Fox bought Lippert. That same year the success of the movie The Quatermass Xperiment led to Hammer’s move into horror films including The Curse of Frankenstein in 1957 and Dracula in 1958. A hugely successful run of gothic horror movies shot in Eastmancolour cemented Hammer’s reputation as the home of horror movies and by the end of the 1960s Hammer was also producing comedy and war movies. With Hammer Horror now a global success deals with Universal Studios and Columbia kept the production base at Bray Studios busy with an incredible volume of films produced during this period. Half way through the 1960s deals were struck with Seven Arts and Twentieth Century Fox which produced more horror classics including Quatermass and the Pit, The Plague of the Zombies and successful adventure films including One Million Years BC. The 1960s also saw Hammer’s first move into television production with Journey Into The Unknown and in 1968 the company was awarded the Queen’s Award for Industry. The 1970s were a relatively fallow period for Hammer with only lucrative spin-offs from British sit-coms like On The Buses keeping the company busy. To the Devil A Daughter was the last Hammer Horror film in 1976. In 2007 a European consortium headed by Dutch based Cyrte Investments BV acquired Hammer Films Productions Ltd and its 295 title library. The management team is headed by Simon Oakes and Marc Schipper, formerly of Liberty Global Inc.
About MySpace.com
MySpace, a unit of Fox Interactive Media Inc., is the premier lifestyle portal for connecting with friends, discovering popular culture, and making a positive impact on the world. By integrating web profiles, blogs, instant messaging, e-mail, music streaming, music videos, photo galleries, classified listings, events, groups, college communities, and member forums, MySpace has created a connected community. As the first ranked web domain in terms of page views(c), MySpace is the most widely-used and highly regarded site of its kind and is committed to providing the highest quality member experience. MySpace will continue to innovate with new features that allow its members to express their creativity and share their lives, both online and off. MySpace's international network includes localized community sites in the United States, France, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Japan, Sweden, Latin America, Denmark, Finland and Norway.
About Pure Grass Films
Pure Grass Films was founded in 2005, to produce short form video entertainment series that have the potential to generate spin-off TV series, feature films and console games. In September 2006, Pure Grass Films completed production on “When Evil Calls” the world’s first horror series for mobile phones starring Dominique Pinon (Amelie, Delicatessen), Sean Pertwee (Dog Soldiers), Chris Barrie (Red Dwarf) and Jennifer Lim (Hostel). Beyond the Rave (2007) is Pure Grass Films’ second production and stars Jamie Dornan (Marie Antoinette), Nora Jane Noone (The Descent), Tamer Hassan (The Football Factory) and Sadie Frost (Dracula). Ben Grass is Managing Director of Pure Grass Films, and was formerly responsible for the Digital Division of Sony Pictures in Europe.