Anchor Bay Entertainment Reborn as New Distribution Arm of Umbrelic

Summary

• Umbrelic Entertainment co-founders launch new distribution arm, Anchor Bay Entertainment, to curate a library of films ranging from new releases to cult classics.
• Anchor Bay aims to honor the history and spirit of the beloved genre film brand while looking for interesting films that break the mold.
• Anchor Bay Entertainment’s first releases include the unique horror film
  Abruptio
  and the anticipated documentary
  Dinner with Leatherface
  , featuring interviews with horror mainstays and the original cast of
  The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
  .

Umbrelic Entertainment co-founders Thomas Zambeck and Brian Katz announced the launch of its new distribution arm, Anchor Bay Entertainment. The founders aim to curate a new library of films for distribution, projects that range from new release genre films, undiscovered treasures, cult classics, and remastered catalog releases. The name hearkens back to the classic home media distributor Anchor Bay, which was beloved by owners of VHS tapes and ’90s and 2000s horror movie DVDs, before Lionsgate bought it and turned it into Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Thus, you could say — Anchor Bay is dead; long live Anchor Bay!

Zambeck explained:

We had an opportunity to take the name of a beloved genre film brand, one we feel a personal connection to, for our new company. This is a new venture, unaffiliated with any previous incarnations. We aim to honor the history and spirit of the past as we look for interesting films that break the mold, and will be discovered by new generations for years to come.

Anchor Bay
Umbrelic

Since the launch of Umbrelic Entertainment in 2018, Zambeck and Katz have produced and executive produced over 14 feature films. Recent releases include the horror thriller Monstrous from director Chris Sivertson and starring Christina Ricci; the crime thriller American Murderer, starring Tom Pelphrey and Ryan Phillippe; the sci-fi thriller Share with Bradley Whitford and Alice Braga; director Adam Sigal’s dark comedy Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose, starring Simon Pegg, Minnie Driver and Christopher Lloyd; and the Emile Hirsch murder mystery Helen’s Dead.

Related: The Best Home Media Releases in 2023

The pair are currently in post-production on three additional films: Hellfire, starring Stephen Lang and Harvey Keitel, Deep Six, starring Tom Welling and Cam Gigandet, and the screen life horror Stay at Home, featuring Jenna Davis and Lilah Pate. Umbrelic Entertainment is represented by Nick LoPiccolo and Babacar Diene of the Paradigm Agency.

Anchor Bay
Umbrelic

A 16-year post-production veteran who has shepherded more than 1,500 projects to global delivery, Zambeck actually started his career at the old Anchor Bay Entertainment, and has previously held roles at Starz, Sony, and Post Haste Digital. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan, and currently resides in Los Angeles. Katz is a film production veteran and a sales professional with more than 20 years of experience within the technology, manufacturing and private equity fields. He resides in the Detroit Area.

Coming from Anchor Bay: Abruptio and Dinner with Leatherface

Bryanston Distributing Company

Anchor Bay Entertainment is kicking off by distributing the unqieu horror film Abruptio and the documentary about a horror legend, Dinner with Leatherface. Abruptio is a first of its kind feature horror film, enacted entirely with lifelike puppets in realistic settings, taking nearly eight years to complete from script to post-production. Written and directed by Evan Marlowe (The Impact), the film has a great cast including James Marsters (House on Haunted Hill, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Christopher McDonald (Thelma & Louise), Hana Mae Lee (Pitch Perfect Franchise), Jordan Peele (Get Out), Sid Haig (Halloween), Rich Fulcher (Wonka), and Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street Franchise).

To release this fall is Dinner with Leatherface, the anticipated documentary on Gunnar Hansen, the actor who portrayed the character Leatherface in the 1974 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Friends, colleagues, filmmakers, and fellow actors share personal stories and discuss the dichotomy between the maniacal chainsaw-wielding character Hansen played on-screen and the very intelligent, creative, soft-spoken man he actually was in real life.

Interviews with horror mainstays include Bruce Campbell, Barbara Crampton, Betsy Baker, Brian O’Halloran, Kim Henkel, Danielle Harris, Linnea Quigley, Kane Hodder, and Debbie Rochon. The film also features all of the remaining cast of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the original Director of Photography, Daniel Pearl and Producer/Co-Writer Kim Henkel. The documentary is written, executive produced, and directed by Michael Kallio (The Skeptic), who produced the film with Lowell Northrop.

You can view the original article HERE.