Hangar 18 wraps Steven Kostanski’s Frankie Freako

Frankie Freako - Conor Sweeney Photo Credit: Hangar 18 Media

Hangar 18 Media has wrapped production on Steven Kostanski’s latest feature, Frankie Freako. Kostanski’s previous feature PG: Psycho Goreman premiered at SXSW and gathered a cult following worldwide. Hangar 18 Media, Raven Banner, and Shout! Studios also announced today that Shout! has acquired all U.S. distribution rights to Frankie Freako for cross-platform releases, with Raven Banner Releasing handling Canadian distribution.

Frankie Freako is Kostanki’s homage to the practical-FX-driven little monster horror-comedies of the 80’s such as “Gremlins 2” and “Ghoulies 3: Ghoulies Go to College”. It tells the story of workaholic yuppie Conor Sweeney (star of “The Editor” and “Father’s Day”) whose perfect life is turned upside down when he accidentally unleashes a trio of tiny trouble-makers into his home, led by the maniacal rock-n-roll party monster FRANKIE FREAKO. It’s a race against time as Conor must defeat the rambunctious ruffians and clean up their trail of destruction before his wife returns from her weekend work trip, all while going on an unexpected journey of self-discovery.

“Steven is a human love letter to genre films, and this is a partnership Shout has long sought. With his impeccable sense of tone and humor, not to mention his wizardry with practical effects, Frankie Freako will surely delight fans of those subversive and mischievous creature features of yesteryear.” stated Jordan Fields, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions & Originals at Shout! Studios.

The film is produced and financed under the Toronto-based Hangar 18 Media banner, produced by Melanie Murray, Pasha Patriki and Steven Kostanski. Additional producers include Raven Banner’s Michael Paszt, Andrew Thomas Hunt and James Fler. Avi Federgreen and Alison Waxman are exec producing, alongside Garson Foos, Bob Emmer, and Jordan Fields for Shout! Studios. Raven Banner is handling Int’l sales and Canadian distribution.

The creature effects were created by the newly minted indie FX house, Action Pants FX led by producing team of Kostanski and partners, Patriki, Paszt, Hunt and Fler.

“Action Pants was created with the purpose of providing indie genre films with prosthetics, specialty props and creature FX, while also being a home base for all of my and Hangar 18’s upcoming projects,” stated Kostanski. “When Steve approached us about starting up an FX shop, we were like kids in a candy store. We all grew up on practical FX movies and immediately jumped at the chance to champion that independent spirit with him.” added Paszt