Toronto-based distributor Mongrel Media has acquired the Canadian rights to Jake Horowitz’s film A Thousand Cuts.

The thriller mystery, written and directed by Horowitz, is produced by Qihui Lim (Sunshine City) and Horowitz from his Orillia, Ont. and Toronto-based production company Sideways Dog Productions.

Jason Speir (Gatekeepers) is onboard as an independent co-producer. Executive producers on the film include Jonas Chernick, who also stars, with Jason Speir, Ben Speir (Gatekeepers) and Kevin Eade (& Other Concerns) from Toronto-based HYST Films. Other EPs include Allan Jeffrey and Rob Madronich.

A Thousand Cuts was filmed entirely in London, Ont. from April 21 to May 13, 2023 and was financially supported by Film London, provincial and federal tax credits as well as private funding, Horowitz told Playback Daily. The film did not have a sales agent at press time.

In the film, Chernick (The End of Sex) and Storm Steenson (Womb Envy) star as the hosts of a TV-special trying to solve a 30-year old murder case.

The film also stars Julian Richings (The Umbrella Academy), David Hewlett (See), Tommie-Amber Pirie (The Retreat) and Varun Saragna (Wynonna Earp).

A Thousand Cuts which premiered at the Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival on Sept. 21. will be the opening film of the Hamilton Film Festival on Oct. 18 and will also screen at the Forest City Film Festival in London on Oct. 26. The film does not currently have a release date, according to a Mongrel Media spokesperson.

Horowitz’s previous projects include the Bell FibeTV1 series Sunshine City, the 2019 feature All About Who You Know and the 2020 feature Cup of Cheer.

Image courtesy of Sideways Dog Productions