Digital distributor Giant Pictures has acquired the Drafthouse Films label.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Drafthouse Films launched as the distribution arm of Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas in 2010, before being spun off from the exhibitor. Giant Pictures’ general manager Nick Savva will become the new Drafthouse Films CEO, while Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League will serve as chairman of the acquired company.
“Giant Pictures’ investment enables Drafthouse Films to continue releasing the provocative, visionary, and artfully unusual genre films from around the world that have always defined the Drafthouse brand. At the same time, this acquisition gives Giant new theatrical releasing capabilities which complement our existing digital distribution and streaming technology businesses,” Savva said in a statement.
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Giant Pictures releases movies and series across major streaming platforms like Apple TV, Netflix, Tubi, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, IMDb TV and Peacock. Drafthouse Films’ first two acquisitions are NR. 10, directed by Alex van Warmerdam (‘Borgman’), and Masking Threshold, a psychological horror pic from director Johannes Grenzfurthner.
Both genre pics bowed at Fantastic Fest and will be released this spring in Alamo Drafthouse theaters. NR. 10 and Masking Threshold will then become available across Giant Pictures’ streaming platforms and via the Alamo On Demand platform.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, one of the country’s major indie movie circuits, teamed with ScreenPlus and Vista Cinema to launch the VOD platform that it curates in 2020. And Giant Pictures and Drafthouse Films have collaborated since early 2021 when Giant began representing the Drafthouse Films catalog for sales to streaming platforms like Hulu, Tubi, Kanopy, Mubi and AMC’s Shudder.
Both Giant Pictures and Drafthouse Films will attend the upcoming SXSW Film Festival to scout for new titles. The distribution deal for NR. 10 was negotiated by Savva for Drafthouse Films and Nelleke Driessen of Nine Film acting on behalf of the filmmakers.
The deal for Masking Threshold was negotiated by Emma Manfredi for Drafthouse Films and Bill Straus of Bridge Independent for the filmmakers.
