Both projects – Greetings from Maryland” (“Saludos desde Maryland”) by Ricardo B'atz' of El Salvador and “What Lives in the Storm” (“Lo que trae la tormenta”) by Miguel Angel Ferrer – won the Mórbido Co-Production Award at the market
Grupo Mórbido founder/CEO Pablo Guisa has boarded two projects at the Costa Rica Media Market (CRMM) as a producer, a strong endorsement to the revived market’s growing status as a genre hub.
Both projects, “Greetings from Maryland” (“Saludos desde Maryland”) by Ricardo B’atz’ of El Salvador and “What Lives in the Storm” (“Lo que trae la tormenta”) by Miguel Angel Ferrer won the Mórbido Co-Production Award at the market, which means an investment of 10% to 20% percent in the productions’ respective budgets from the company. As a producer, Guisa will be engaged at every phase, from creative development to financing.
Both projects were selected from the Fantastic Lab Central America & Caribbean — the genre film development initiative launched by the Fantastic Pavilion, the Costa Rica Media Market and Grupo Mórbido last year— which in its first edition received 55 submissions from across the region, of which 15 were chosen for intensive development and six finalists announced at Cannes.
“Coming from a country where filmmaking is built through perseverance rather than industry, partnering with Pablo Guisa and Mórbido is a unique opportunity. Their experience in horror cinema gives ‘Greetings from Maryland’ the chance to grow beyond its local origins and connect with international audiences. Together, we hope to create a horror film that is both terrifying and deeply human, where supernatural fear becomes a reflection of the real horrors faced by migrant workers in the United States,” said B’atz.
B’atz, who plans to film in El Salvador and is best known for his social realist debut feature “Hoy,” is delving into genre filmmaking for the first time with “Greetings…” Pic centers on undocumented workers demolishing an abandoned house who unleash a cursed entity that hunts them one by one, transforming the horrors of invisible immigrant labor into supernatural terror.
“We believe in the power of strong creative alliances. Partnering with Pablo Guisa and Grupo Mórbido at this stage in the development of ‘What Lives in the Storm’ is incredibly meaningful. Their vision, experience, and commitment to bold genre storytelling make them the ideal partners as we continue bringing this film to life,” noted Ferrer, who has made several genre shorts and is aiming to shoot “Storm” on the outskirts of Costa Rica’s Caribbean town of Limón.
A Venezuelan-Cuban-American whose feature “The Shadow of the Sun” represented Venezuela at the 96th Academy Awards. “What Lives in the Storm” follows a reclusive ex-military doctor who shelters a desperate mother and daughter during a fierce Caribbean hurricane, only to find that a horrific creature has also followed them into his home.
B’atz’ and Ferrer become the first two Latin American directors to join Blood Bank, the new global initiative by Grupo Mórbido and the Fantastic Pavilion, created to “address a structural problem in the global fantastic film industry: The supply is everywhere. The pipeline doesn’t exist,” said Guisa, whose 30+ years in the genre biz has seen him work with the likes of Adrián García Bogliano, Laura Casabe, Cristian Ponce, Edgar Nito, Julio Hernández Cordón, Patricio Valladares and Isaac Ezban.
“At the Blood Bank, we manage three types of currency: talent, IP and money. Like any bank, we can offer these as separate services to third parties — we can sell talent services, we can sell or license IP, we can finance projects independently. Each of the three pillars can operate on its own for different clients. But we can also work across all three simultaneously — developing original projects with our in-house talent, working with our existing IP library, and producing or co-producing the result. Blood Bank manages assets and builds value across an entire ecosystem — from idea to global release.” Guisa explained.
“With Mórbido — Fest, TV, Film — Manticora handling distribution, international sales and theatrical release, the Fantastic Pavilion and a presence at every major market in the world, we practically know everyone in the industry. That means we can manage the entire pipeline: from a high concept to pitching at industry events, developing, packaging, co-producing, financing, building marketing strategies, market screenings, festival circuit, theatrical release, streaming, world sales, pay TV, special edition Blu-rays, merchandising and licensing,” he said, adding: “Basically, we can take a project from idea to finished product and get it to audiences worldwide. And now we are doing exactly that — on a global scale.”