Black Bear’s management arm has signed Austrian filmmaking duo Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, the directing team behind the folk horrorfilm, “The Devil’s Bath.” Their latest production competed at this year’s Berlinale and was nominated for a Golden Bear. The film, which PvNew called “beautiful” and “gripping in its austerity,” swept the Austrian Film Awards and was recently selected as Austria’s official entry for Best International Feature Film at next year’s Oscars.
Franz and Fiala first attracted attention by writing and directing the horror hit“Goodnight Mommy,” which was selected as Austria’s official submission to the 2014 Academy Awards, inspiring an English-language remake starring Naomi Watts in 2022. The pair went on to write and direct“The Lodge”starring Riley Keough, which premiered at Sundance and was acquired by Neon in 2019.
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Next up, the dynamic duo is set to write and direct the film adaptation of Paul Tremblay’s Bram Stoker Award-winning novel, “A Head Full of Ghosts.” Robert Downey Jr. will produce the film alongside wife and producing partner Susan Downey.
In addition to Black Bear, Franz and Fiala continue to be represented by WME.
Led by partners Keith Redmon and Joanne Roberts Wiles, Black Bear’s clients include Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley, whose film“Sing Sing”is currently in release and generating Oscars buzz, as well as Karyn Kusama (“Yellowjackets”), Johan Renck (“Chernobyl”), Cooper Raiff (“Cha Cha Real Smooth”), Morten Tyldum (“The Imitation Game”), Kodi Smit-McPhee (“The Power of the Dog”), Olmo Schnabel (“Pet Shop Days”), and Simona Tabasco (“The White Lotus”).
