Buck Productions has optioned BAD, a top-five finalist in CineCoup’s first accelerator round, for development.

Sean Buckley, CEO and founder of Buck Productions and CineCoup Media Inc.’s chief content officer, told Playback Daily financing for the film is already underway, with a target budget of $1-$3 million. The project has already attracted interest from a private investor and funding options are currently being explored, he adds.

Currently, filming of BAD is set to start in Spring 2015 and will likely be shot in the Toronto and Hamilton areas.

The feature, from writer/director Jeff Cassidy and producers Riley Walsh and Kristian Andresen, tells the story of a pair of siblings who are desperate for cash and are set up by a drug dealer to take the fall after a drug shipment goes missing.

Last year, Cassidy, Walsh and Andresen pitched BAD to film executives at the Banff World Media Festival after the project was selected as a finalist in the CineCoup film accelerator program.

“I really loved the raw and gritty tone of this particular piece,” Buckley said of his interest in BAD.

Better yet, he said, thanks to the CineCoup process, BAD already has a built-in fanbase to build on.

“In a sense, it already has a significant audience,” he added.