Toronto and Vancouver prodco Middle Child Films will produce sci-fi feature Levels, the directorial debut of filmmaker and VFX artist Adam Stern.

Scheduled for production in 2021, Levels stars Mpho Koaho (Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency) as a man who risks reality itself to discover the truth about his girlfriend’s (Cara Gee; The Expanse) death. Additional casting for the film is currently underway.

Stern wrote the screenplay and is a producer on the film under his newly launched banner Orbital Mechanics. Tony Wosk of Middle Child Films is also a producer. Stern created the viral sci-fi short FTL, which has garnered more than 20 million views on U.S. indie studio Gunpowder & Sky’s sci-fi platform DUST. He has also worked as a VFX artist for series from Disney, Netflix and Syfy.

Financing for Levels has been provided by the Harold Greenberg Fund and CreativeBC, as well as Unreal Engine’s Epic MegaGrant, which is awarded to creatives using the technology for their projects. The film will use Unreal Engine for virtual production techniques through prep, principal photography and post.

Middle Child Films’ more recent features include Nose to Tail and Sorry For Your Loss.

Koaho is represented by The Characters Talent Agency, Buchwald and Wright Entertainment and Gee is represented by GGA’s Kishwar Iqbal in Toronto.