October162017

Jovanka Vuckovic’s 90’s Set Dystopian Thriller, RIOT GIRLS, Now Filming

Lee B. Golden IIINewsclique pictures, filmcombatsyndicate.com, head gear films, jovanka vuckovic, Madison Iseman, Paloma Kwiatkowski, riot girls, search engine films, xyz films0

Acclaimed horror director Jovanka Vuckovic (XX) has reportedly hit the ground running with her feature directorial debut, Riot Girls. Production is underway in Canada with actresses Madison Iseman (Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle) and Paloma Kwiatkowski (Richard Says Goodbye) leading the currently-named cast from a script by Katherine Collins (Netflix’s Lost In Space).

The film takes place in 1995 and tells of a teenage girl in a dystopian world ravaged by disease, the extinction of adults, and rampant violence between gangs waging war for territory and viable resources. She evidently gets swept into the mix when her brother is kidnapped by gang rivals and soon finds herself accompanied by two more people on a treacherous rescue mission. Screendaily broke the story on Monday.

The film is set four years after a mysterious illness has killed all adults. The town of Potter’s Bluff has been divided into two rival factions, the ‘East side’, made up of scrappy scavengers living amongst the ruins, and the ‘West side’ which hoards its wealth in the former high school and is ruled by Jeremy, a brutal dictator.

When Jack, an eastsider, is forced to kill two westsiders while on a scavenging mission, he is captured and taken back to the West side where he awaits public execution. Jack’s sister, Nat, and her best friend, Scratch, must cross into dangerous territory if they have any hope of saving him. Their treacherous journey reveals not only the power of their love, but the depths of their courage.

Clique Pictures’s Lauren Grant is producing with Vuckovic serving as executive producer next to Oddfellows’s Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Chris Ferguson of Oddfellows Entertainment, Head Gear’s Phil Hunt and Compton Ross, Search Engine’s John Bain, Urban Post’s Mark Gringas and John Laing, Michael Roban and Collins. Sandra Yee Ling is co-executive producing.

“Riot Girls is not the kind of film women usually get to make, with characters that women don’t usually get to play, so I was naturally attracted to it. It’s also reminiscent of my favourite high concept cult films, and being an outsider myself, I can’t help but love a good misfit’s journey. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be at the helm of this genre-bending, punk rock, post-apocalypse film.”

Telefilm Canada, Head Gear Films, Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, Ontario Media Development Corporation, Search Engine Films, Urban Post Production, Clique Pictures, She Wolf Films and the Harold Greenberg Fund are financing the film with AMP International selling internationally. XYZ is repping the film in the U.S..