SAN DIEGO, CA - JULY 13: Director Eduardo Sanchez attends the Movies On Demand lounge at Comic Con at Hard Rock Hotel San Diego on July 13, 2012 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images for Movies on Demand) (2012 Getty Images)
The South by Southwest fest is a stepping stone for many filmmakers and musicians looking to share their work with a much wider audience. For some, it means being picked up by major labels and studios.
Such is the case with new film “Exists,” about the mythical figure of Bigfoot, by Cuban-American director Eduardo Sanchez.
The 46-year-old director is known for co-directing the 1999 micro-budget physiological horror “The Blair Witch Project,” which became a $250 million box office hit.
“Exists” is Bigfoot’s bold return to the big screen, featuring five friends on a camping weekend in the remote woods of east Texas. The friends struggle to survive against the legendary predator that is stronger smarter and more terrifying.
“I’m really excited about working with the talented team at Lionsgate,” said director Sanchez in a statement. “We’ve had great history together and they really understand ‘Exists’ and see the tremendous opportunity to reboot Bigfoot for a new generation.”
The film stars Chris Osborn, Dora Madison Burge, Roger Edwards, Samuel Davis, Denise Williamson and Brian Steele.
Also making its premiere at SXSW was Showtime’s new psychosexual horror series, “Penny Dreadful.”
The show’s first episode, which premiered at the renowned Austin gathering, is directed by “The Orphanage” director Juan Antonia Bayona, stars Josh Hartnett, Eva Green, Timothy Dalton and Harry Treadaway.
The show crosses the mythologies of iconic horror figures from Frankenstein, Dracula and Dorian Gray in a Victorian England setting.
“We wanted to pay respects to the mythology but bring them to a new level,” Bayona said, according to Deadline.
About directing the first two episodes of “Penny Dreadful,” which debuts in May, Bayona told SXSW audience members, “I felt I was delivering something not complete, which is a strange feeling for a director.
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