MVP got movie projects coming up
Damian Abraham, frontman of punk band F*cked Up, and former CBC producer Zach Feldberg have launched Cut & Paste Pictures out of Toronto, Canada.
deadline.com
Damian Abraham, frontman of punk band F*cked Up, and former CBC producer Zach Feldberg have launched Cut & Paste Pictures out of Toronto, Canada.
The company has been quietly operating since last year and now officially debuts with a development slate spanning, scripted, unscripted and a documentary that’s currently in production. The slate is being geared toward authored voices rooted in music, counterculture and “outsider perspectives,” according the co-founders, who named their company due to their DIY approach to creativity.
Cut & Paste is currently in pre-production on a feature-length documentary about the unlikely lifelong friendship between Rise Against guitarist Zach Blair and professional wrestler Hassan ‘MVP’ Assad, from director Scott Barber (This is Gwar). Production begins this summer in and around Texas, where MVP and Blair are based.
On the development front, scripted feature film I Just Want to Talk to You is based on uncovered 1970s recording by Charles K Brown, and tells the story of teenage angst and unrequited gay love that ultimately broke up his band. It’s written and directed by Kelly McCormack (A League of Their Own) and co-written by Tess Degenstein (The Monkey). The creative team is the same as that behind Sundance title How Brief.
Also in development is half-hour comedy series Hoser, which Abraham co-created with Ehren ‘Bear Witness’ Thomas from The Halluci Nation. Greame Wilson (Freaks on Fire) is the writer, and the plot follows a disgraced American podcaster who accidentally relocates to Canada.
On the unscripted front is factual series Exit Strategy, which explores life after prison with AEW pro wrestling star and ex-convict MVP. The slate also includes a “gender-bending” factual-meets-lifestyle series with musician and producer Tim Hill of The Halluci Nation, and a feature documentary on Southern Ontario suburban punk rock from director Caitlin Starowicz (She Walks with Apes).
In December, Cut & Paste released the short documentary SNFU: A Band From Edmonton, about Canadian punk legends SNFU, in partnership with Trust Records, with the film premiering at The Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas. That came after the Bell Fund Slate Development Program, handed the prodco development funding to support the growing slate.
Outside of his life in music, F*cked Up frontman Abraham has built up production credits on the likes of Vice’s The Wrestlers and MuchMusic’s The Wedge, along with creating podcast Turned Out a Punk, which features figures from across pop culture discussing their punk roots. His band was created 25 years ago and are known for the their ambitious concept albums that blend hardcore punk with art-rock sounds.
At Cut & Paste, he’ll team with Feldberg, an International Emmy-winning producer who served as Director of Current Production, Comedy and Head of Scripted at Canadian pubcaster CBC. There he oversaw series such as HBO Max comedy co-pro Sort Of; Son of a Critch, which plays on The CW in the U.S.; Netflix co-production Fakes; and For Heaven’s Sake, a doc series from Mike Mildon and Jackson Rowe that had Paramount+ attached in the states.
“After two decades leading a band with a swear word for a name, and years spent working across podcasting and television chasing era-defining moments, I’ve learned that the culture you want to see in the world doesn’t just happen,” said Abraham. “Cut & Paste is an extension of that mindset – a home for stories that are raw, strange, and often overlooked, and that come from incredible people we’ve encountered who trust us with bringing their fascinating stories to the world.”
“We called our company Cut & Paste because it reflects the culture and ethos that shaped us – making things from scratch, by hand, and seeking out voices that hadn’t yet broken through and were ahead of their time,” added Feldberg. “Personally, it connects everything from releasing records and ‘zines as a teenager to working as a journalist, radio host, and later as an executive and producer in TV and film. Our aim now is to pair that creative drive with the infrastructure and partnerships needed to bring those stories to scale.”
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