Shudder teams up with Regent Street Cinema for Kuso premiere
David Farnor | On 12, Jul 2017
Shudder is teaming up with Regent Street Cinema to give Kuso a big screen premiere.
The film, marks the feature directorial debut of Steve, the filmmaking alter-ego of Steve Ellison, better known as music producer, DJ and rapper Flying Lotus. It made a splash at Sundance this year, described as a “psych-out nightmare”. Broadcasting through a makeshift network of discarded televisions, Kuso depicts the aftermath of Los Angeles’s worst earthquake nightmare. Viewers travel between screens and aftershocks into the twisted lives of the survived, experiencing a “hallucination that feels like David Cronenberg meeting Ren & Stimpy”.
The movie was snapped up by subscription streaming service Shudder last month. At a time when VOD companies are under increasing pressure to support theatrical distribution, though, Shudder has announced that it will be giving Kuso the big screen experience, with a special late night screening at London’s trendy Regent Street Cinema.
The film will have its debut there at 9.30pm on Friday 21st July, the same day that it also arrives on Shudder to stream exclusively. You can get tickets for the premiere here – or read on below for the trailer.
Flying Lotus’ Kuso snapped up by Shudder
7th June 2017
Shudder has snapped up the US, UK and Ireland rights to Flying Lotus’s Kuso.
The feature directorial debut from Steve, the filmmaking alter-ego of Steve Ellison, better known as music producer, DJ and rapper Flying Lotus, Kuso made a buzzy debut at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival this year. Ellison’s name has become synonymous with creative innovation, having released five seminal studio albums, a slew of audio-visual marvels and, in the process, gaining two Grammy nominations including one for his work on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly. Now, Shudder has acquired the exclusive rights to his first film, which the subscription streaming service describes as a “psych-out nightmare”.
Broadcasting through a makeshift network of discarded televisions, Kuso depicts the aftermath of Los Angeles’s worst earthquake nightmare. Viewers travel between screens and aftershocks into the twisted lives of the survived, experiencing a “hallucination that feels like David Cronenberg meeting Ren & Stimpy”.
As an artist, renaissance man and auteur in the making, Steve’s work has been compared to the work of David Lynch and Matthew Barney. Using music, special effects and animation to take a unique look at the dark history of America, the film brings different characters and stories to the screen, and features a predominantly black cast.
Produced by Eddie Alcazar, and featuring Hannibal Buress (Broad City), Anders Holm (The Mindy Project), Tim Heidecker (Eastbound and Down), and iconic Funk musician George Clinton, the film also includes an original score and musical collaborations with Aphex Twin and Akira Yamaoka.
Shudder GM Linda Pan comments: “Kuso pushes the boundaries of filmmaking and we’re delighted to be working with Steve on this highly unique film, as Shudder continues it’s commitment to bringing new and innovative programming to its community.”
“Shudder felt like the perfect home for KUSO”, adds Flying Lotus. “I’m excited for my fans, Shudder fans and just people who still have fun watching movies, to have the opportunity to see KUSO this summer.”
The deal was brokered on behalf of Brainfeeder Films by Nate Bolotin for XYZ Films and CAA. It marks the latest all-rights acquisition for Shudder, which launched in the UK last year, with previous exclusives including meta-slasher Lake Bodom. You can read our review of that here.
Kuso will premiere on Shudder on Friday 21st July.