Vertical has acquired North American, UK, and Ireland distribution rights to the horror-comedy feature Found Footage: The Making of The Patterson Project. Directed by Max Tzannes, co-written by Tzannes and David San Miguel, and with editing and cinematography by Jacob Souza – who together make up the film collective Dirty Shot Clean (dsc) – the movie follows a crew of acclaimed documentarians as they chronicle a young filmmaker’s quest to create the world’s greatest found footage horror film. A subversive mockumentary with both laughs and scares, Found Footage draws inspiration from Christopher Guest-style comedies like This is Spinal Tap and found footage classics like The Blair Witch Project. Brennan Keel Cook (The Pale Blue Eye), Chen Tang (Warrior), Erika Vetter (Somebody I Used to Know) and Dean Cameron (Straight Outta Compton, Summer School) star in the film. The film is set for limited theatrical release this summer on June 20th and available on demand beginning June 24th in North America and June 30th in the UK. 

The film is produced by Tyler Friesen with Radio Silence presenting. Chad Villella, Tyler Gillett, and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin served as executive producers. 

“Dirty Shot Clean was thrilled to collaborate with filmmakers whose genre-bending movies have had such a profound influence on our work,” said Tzannes. “We wanted to tell a story that celebrates and subverts the found footage tropes we all know and love, while also poking fun at the terrifying experience of making an independent horror film.” 

“It’s a true challenge to innovate within a well-worn subgenre but the gents at Dirty Shot Clean have created something truly original, hilarious, scary and full of heart,” said Gillett and Bettinelli-Olpin. “It’s a send-up of our favorite found footage tropes and a love letter to the process of indie filmmaking. We’re so honored to be a very tiny part of bringing this one to the masses.” 

Villella remarked, “It is important to find the right partner to distribute an original movie with such a fun and unique tone, and we are thrilled to partner with Vertical to get as many eyeballs on DSC’s wild & wonderful movie as possible.”

“Found Footage is a wildly original ride — it’s laugh-out-loud funny, full of heart, and laced with just the right amount of horror to keep you on edge,” added Vertical’s SVP of Acquisitions Tony Piantedosi. “It’s rare to find a film that balances tone so well, and we knew from the first screening that this was something special. Vertical is thrilled to bring it to audiences.”

The deal was negotiated by Piantedosi and Manager of Acquisitions and Sales Rachel White on behalf of Vertical. UTA Independent Film Group negotiated the deal on behalf of the filmmakers. Dirty Shot Clean is represented by UTA, Gotham Group and Ziffren Brittenham.