EXCLUSIVE: As the Toronto International Film Festival gets underway, a new production house is launching the Canadian city.
Clever Creature is the brainchild of industry veterans Michaelangelo Masangkay, Plato Fountidakis, Paul Rapovski, and Jonathan Soon-Shiong, who say it’s been established in response to rising demand for films that are “artistically ambitious but also strategically tailored for international audiences.”
The company debuts with horror feature Demon Housewhich was recently completed. It stars Michael Paré and Michael Wong, has Francis Dandurand as director and was produced for both theatrical release and as an immersive format for Apple Vision Pro, the Apple spatial computer hardware.
Clever Creature has both production and distribution capabilities under one roof thanks to a partnership with affiliated production company FAST Motion Films. This has allowed it to develop for cinema, streaming and experiential formats.
‘Demon House’
Clever Creature
“We see immersive storytelling as a powerful way to restore intentional viewing,” said Masangkay, Principal at Clever Creature. “Audiences today are conditioned by on-demand convenience, often splitting their attention during a film. Immersive experiences demand focus – they pull viewers back into the moment – and in doing so, they restore the intrinsic value of choosing the stories we truly want to experience.”
Clever Creature plans to announce its slate later this year, with “additional projects in development and discussions underway with international partners.”
The company’s founders are at TIFF taking meetings this week.
