Raven Banner has picked up the Canadian and international sales rights for the feature version of Portal to Hell, which will be based on an upcoming short film by the same name.

The short has been financed via the Harold Greenberg Fund’s Shorts to Features program and is slated to begin production in March 2015. The filmmakers aim to package the feature film version by fall 2015.  An Indiegogo campaign is also underway to help bolster the budget of the short film, which will star retired Canadian professional wrestler Roddy Piper (pictured).

XYZ Films has also signed on to rep the feature film’s U.S. rights.

The short film Portal to Hell follows the story of a building manager named Jack who discovers a supernatural portal in a basement and must work with a divorce and a young neurotic to try to stop a creature named Cthulhu from becoming ruler of the earth. The feature version will expand upon the plot and themes explored in the short film.

Both versions of Portal to Hell will be directed by Vivieno Caldinelli (22 Minutes, Picnicface) and written by Matt Watts (Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays, The Newsroom) and Caldinelli.

Producers on both the short and the feature are Lori Fischburg and Ryan Reaney, along with executive producers Andrew Rosen and Anthony Leo of Aircraft Pictures, Todd Brown of XYZ Films, Watts and Caldinelli. Raven Banner will also serve as an executive producer of the feature film.

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