MPI/Dark Sky Films and XYZ Films are mounting an all-female horror anthology titled “XX,” in which each segment will be directed by a woman and feature a female lead.
The directors onboard the momentous indie movie include Jennifer Lynch (“Boxing Helena”), Mary Harron (“American Psycho”), Karyn Kusama (“Jennifer’s Body”) , sisters Jen and Sylvia Soska (“Dead Hooker in a Trunk”) and Jovanka Vuckovic (“The Captured Bird”).
The filmmakers will develop their own stories, and each will have a female lead character. The various segments will be linked by work by Guadalajara-based stop-motion animator Sofia Carrillo, who will also create the film’s title sequence.
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“We know that women make up about half of the audience for horror films, and yet the female creative voice has been nearly silent in the horror genre. So we are thrilled about the new and distinct approach that these talented directors will bring to the project,” said Greg Newman, EVP of Dark Sky Films’ parent company MPI Media Group.
“One of the givens of so many horror films has been the objectification of young women, and we thought it was time for a different approach to scaring audiences and letting the female voice be heard,” said Brown.
Todd Brown will produce for XYZ, whose Nate Bolotin, Nick Spicer and Aram Tertzakia will executive produce for the company. Greg Newman will serve as executive producer for MPI/Dark Sky, while Jovanka Vukovic acts as associate producer.
MPI/Dark Sky Films is handling international sales at AFM (Loews, suite 824) and co-representing the film with XYZ Films.
The horror anthology has grown in popularity in recent years thanks to “V/H/S” and “The ABCs of Death,” though female-driven features have been notably absent. The Dark Sky/XYZ project aims to change that.
In January 2013, a study was released in conjunction with the Sundance Film Festival stating that women only made up 4.4% of directors found within the top 100 box-office movies each year from 2002 through 2012, and only 29.8% of the films screened at Sundance during those 10 years were made by women (including directors, writers, editors, producers, and cinematographers). The numbers for women making horror films are even more dismal.