AFM: Filmax Produces David Victori’s ‘Cross the Line’ (EXCLUSIVE)

MADRID – Julio Fernandez’s Filmax Ent. will produce “Cross the Line,” a fast-paced English-language thriller that marks the feature film debut of the 1^st YouTube Your Film Festival winner David Victori, director of a sci-fi YouTube web series exec produced by Ridley Scott and Michael Fassbender.

On “Cross the Line,” Filmax has Spanish rights; Filmax Intl. has those to international and the U.S. and will present “Cross the Line” to buyers at the American Film Market, where it will talk up one of its strongest line-ups in years including new films by Jaume Balagueró (“Muse”), Alberto Marini (“Summer Camp”) and Cesc Gay (“Truman”). One final addition to its AFM slate may be announced on the eve of the Santa Monica mart.

Written by Victori and Carla Viola, a co-scribe on Victori’s web-series, and at advanced screenplay stage, “Cross the Line” turns on a final year medical student, Daniel, who’s beaten cancer, is top of his class, books a holiday in a tropical paradise, celebrates at a club, is seduced by a woman. Then suddenly a man, her boyfriend, bursts into the apartment and throws himself at Daniel. The brutality of what next happens won’t let Daniel think. He escapes, gets back to his apartment, sees a suitcase waiting for him on the hallway. Everything appears normal, as if nothing has changed and it’s only five hours until his plane takes off.

Before hjs YouTube win, Victori had already been selected by Variety at Cannes in May 2012 as one of Spain’s 2012 10 To Track, a selection of on-the-rise Spanish directors and producers.

“Cross The Line’ is one of the best scripts I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. It’s what you could call a ‘classic’ thriller; the way the script deals with the idea of guilt is very Hitchcockian. However, the story is also extremely modern and avant-garde, making it a perfect fit for David Victor’s directorial style,” said Filmax Intl.’s Ivan Díaz.

He added: “I am sure that the combination of this explosive script with such a talented new director – Variety magazine has already singled him out as ‘one to watch’ in the new wave of young, Spanish helmers – will attract a very high-quality, young cast.”

Chosen out of an initial 15,000 video submissions, which Scott Free narrowed down to 50 semi-finalists, Victori won the 2012 YouTube Your Film Festival with “The Guilt,” a 12-minute short on the mental cost of revenge, channeling with a twist the iconic staircase image of “Vertigo” as a metaphor for a seriously perturbed mind.

Announced at the 2012 Venice Festival, the win gave Victori a development deal with Scott Free for an online series – known as “Untitled David Victori/Michael Fassbender Project,” a $500,000 grant and Scott and Fassbender’s services as producers with YouTube on the online series.

A four-episode sci-fi Internet miniseries – the first three episodes three lasting six-minutes, the last 10 – the Vitori web-series, his first fiction in the U.S, tells the story of a father and son attempting to recuperate their relationship after the death of the mother. Starring Ryan Eggold (“The Black List”) and newcomer Felix Avitia and boasting intense FX work, which with other post-production has kept Vitori busy for the last year, the web-series will bow first quarter 2015 in all the world.

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