Grace Glowicki’s ‘Dead Lover’ Acquired for Theatrical Release Out of SXSW by New Distributor Cartuna x Dweck
Brian Welk
In the first sale of the SXSW Film Festival, Grace Glowicki’s Midnight movie “Dead Lover” has found theatrical distribution from a new boutique distribution venture, Cartuna x Dweck, which is a partnership between physical media company Cartuna and Dweck Productions, the company behind films such as “Christmas Eve at Miller’s Point” and “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.”
Cartuna x Dweck acquired North American rights to “Dead Lover” following its Texas premiere at SXSW, and this will be the first release from the new venture, as the two companies have quietly been building an initial slate of films to be announced later this year. No release date for “Dead Lover” was announced.
“Dead Lover” is Glowicki’s sophomore feature, which she wrote, directed, and starred in, and it made its premiere in the Midnight section of this year’s Sundance film Festival. The film is a campy, lo-fi riff on the Frankenstein story and follows a lonely gravedigger who stinks of corpses. When she finally meets her dream man (Ben Petrie), their whirlwind affair is cut short when he tragically drowns at sea. Grief-stricken, she goes to morbid lengths to resurrect him through madcap scientific experiments, resulting in grave consequences and unlikely love.
Glowicki co-wrote the screenplay with Petrie, and the film also stars Leah Doz and Lowen Morrow. “Dead Lover” is produced by Glowicki, Petrie, and Yona Strauss. Matthew Miller, Olivia Nieuwland, Lexi Tannenholtz, and Rhianon Jones and Tristan Scott Behrends of Neon Heart Productions serve as Executive Producers.
Glowicki joined IndieWire’s Sundance Studio back in January to talk about her character’s anomaly blend of “feelings and stink.”
Cartuna last year launched a film distribution arm, and it had a hand in the physical release of indie hit “Hundreds of Beavers,” which Cartuna now says has sold 10,000 Blu-ray copies. “Hundreds of Beavers” producer Kurt Ravenwood is even getting involved on “Dead Lover,” joining Cartuna x Dweck to provide marketing strategy for the film.
“We firmly believe that we are at the early stages of a historic creative movement,” said James Belfer, founder and CEO of Cartuna. “Inventive, boundary-pushing storytellers need more distribution support now than ever. This collective of producers has opted to take matters into our own hands, and it’s our sincere hope that it will inspire others to do the same.”
Hannah Dweck, owner and co-founder of Dweck Productions added, “What Grace and her collaborators have dug up from their creative depths is like nothing I’ve ever seen before and we are so honored to be a part of this infinitely imaginative team. We can’t wait to set this exuberantly unrestrained, disgusting, beautiful, smelly, exhumed corpse of a rom-com loose on the world!”
Glowicki’s directorial debut “Tito” premiered at SXSW in 2019, and she first broke out in Petrie’s 2016 short “Her Friend Adam.”
“We feel touched by kismet to be working with Cartuna X Dweck! Individually, both companies are stalwart champions of independent voices in cinema, and we’re in love with their vision for a united superfront putting out movies with a fresh, individualized approach,” Glowicki said in a statement. “Ben, Yona, and I are thrilled to be putting our brains together with them on rolling out ‘Dead Lover!’“
The deal was negotiated by Hugues Barbier, Justin Timms, and Joe Yanick of Yellow Veil Pictures on behalf of the filmmakers and James Belfer on behalf of Cartuna x Dweck.
