Millennium Media announced today that it will produce the horror drama ABYZOU, which will be the feature debut of up-and-coming British director Oliver Park. The film, loosely based on a Jewish folk tale, is written by Hank Hoffman from a story by Hoffman and Jonathan Yunger.
Set in the Hasidic world, a family struggling with unresolved trauma finds themselves at the mercy of an ancient demon bent on destroying them from the inside. Tapping into Jewish demonology, ABYZOU aims to blend harrowing drama with an exciting twist on classic horror conventions.
Jeffrey Greenstein, Les Weldon, Jonathan Yunger and Yariv Lerner of Millennium Media and screenwriter Hank Hoffman will produce with Millennium’s Sam Schulte as co-producer. Millennium’s Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson and Tanner Mobley are executive producers.
Director Oliver Park burst on to the scene with his award-winning horror short VICIOUS. His follow–up, STILL, is currently enjoying an acclaimed festival run. He is represented by Greg Pedicin and Danny Toth at The Gersh Agency, manager Melinda Jason at Melinda Jason Company and attorney Will Jacobson at Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher, LLP.
“ABYZOU is a project that’s near and dear to my heart,” said Yunger. “As longtime fans of the horror genre, Hank Hoffman and I dug into our Orthodox Jewish backgrounds to craft a story that takes the audience to a rich and unfamiliar world and shows how deep the roots of Judaic mysticism can go and how colorful the exploration of the esoteric can be, all while scaring the crap out of you. We searched far and wide for the right director and feel very lucky to have Oliver on board with us at the helm.”
