Gunpowder & Sky, Mandalay Sports Media Pact For Several Sports-Horror Features

Multi-platform indie studio Gunpowder & Sky is teaming up with Mandalay Sports Media (MSM), a five-year-old sports content company, on an upcoming film entitled Lucky Number.

The film, to be written by Aaron Cooley (The Campaigners), will be headlined by celebrities from the sports world, and will tell the story of a pro basketball star who makes a deal with the devil and then must transform into a highly athletic murderer. The film is the first in a series of films that Gunpowder and MSM have dubbed ‘Sporror’ that will, they say, for the first time merge the sports and horror genres.

Lucky Number will also serve to reunite Gunpowder co-founder and CEO Van Toffler with MSM co-founder Mike Tollin, who together collaborated in 1999 on the classic teen sports movie Varsity Blues (which was directed by former AwesomenessTV chief Brian Robbins). “Digital audiences are devouring horror films and sports entertainment,” said Toffler, a former top Viacom

and MTV exec, “so it only seemed natural to create content that caters to both passions at the same time.”

Toffler and Tollin will serve as EPs on Lucky Number, as will MSM EVP Jon Weinbach. (Former Funny Or Die CEO Dick Glover left the company last August to join MSM as CEO). They are currently meeting with potential directors.

Gunpowder most recently announced the launch of an international headquarters in London to be led by former Endemol Shine exec Randel Bryan. Five-year-old MSM, for its part, just premiered the Liev Schreiber-starring boxing feature Chuck on May 5. The company was also nominated for an Emmy for its Undrafted documentary series for the NFL Network. And next month, Netflix will premiere MSM’s CounterPunch, a documentary about boxing in America.