EXCLUSIVE: Flula Borg (Pitch Perfect franchise) and Academy Award winner Troy Kotsur (CODA) have wrapped on the Los Angeles shoot for The American Winner, a satirical horror film marking the debut feature of Iranian writer-director Farbod Ardebili.
Hailing from Bad Grey and Plain Text, The American Winner follows a megalomaniacal tech billionaire (Borg) who manipulates markets from his residence while protecting the bizarre “being” he’s accidentally impregnated and must feed to keep his progeny alive. The entire film takes place in the palatial bathroom of the Silicon Valley guru.
The film was produced by brothers Dane and Cole Eckerle on behalf of their label Bad Grey alongside Daniel Brandt and Mark Finley of Plain Text, who manage Ardebili and developed the project. Their previous collaborations include SXSW Grand Jury Prize winning I Love My Dad and Mermaid, which was recently released by Utopia after playing SXSW. Their latest film, Cotton Fever, premiered at this year’s Tribeca Festival, where it won Best U.S. Narrative Feature and Best Cinematography.
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John Henry Hinkel is also a producer on the film. Exec producers include Tom Spriggs and Atil Singh of Principal Entertainment, Lorena E. Gonzalez, Erin O’Connor and Maurice Black of Story Incubator, Katherine Kendall, Shavvon Lin and Jimmy Cai.
Others in the cast include Ashby Gentry (Netflix’s My Life with the Walter Boys), Misha Osherovich (Freaky), Toks Olagundoye (Frasier), Lorena Gonzalez and Shavvon Lin.
“Farbod has an incredible life story and is an amazing emerging voice,” said Plain Text’s Daniel Brandt. “From the moment we signed him — we’ve been looking for the perfect fit for his debut and after years of searching — Farbod finally wrote this for himself to direct and we’re so glad he did.”
Brandt added, “When we met Flula we knew he was the perfect person to bring our tech-centric Patrick Bateman to life. We view this one as a five-minutes-into-the-future tech world update of AMERICAN PSYCHO infused with a THE THING-style monster that is really going to freak people out. THE AMERICAN WINNER is a wild blend of horror and satire that pulls no punches and is chock full of relevant commentary that we feel will resonate with audiences today.”
Known for roles in the Pitch Perfect franchise, The Suicide Squad and more, Borg will next be seen in the upcoming season of Paramount+’s Tulsa King. He recently starred opposite Dave Bautista in My Spy: The Eternal City and held a lead role in the indie Bonhoeffer from Todd Komarnicki. As a filmmaker, Borg co-wrote, executive produced and starred in the indie Buddymoon, which won Slamdance’s Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. He is represented by United Agents, Artists First, Evan Cavic and Star Tyner.
Known for his breakout with Apple’s CODA, with which he became the first deaf male actor to win an acting Oscar, Kotsur is coming off turns in Netflix’s crime thriller series Black Rabbit and Paramount’s horror film Primate. He is repped by IAG, Metric Talent & Literary Management, and Ziffren Brittenham.
Ardebili immigrated to the U.S. from Iran in 2014 with the support of the Sundance Film Intensive Fellowship. Since then, his directorial work has screened at such premier genre festivals as Fantastic Fest and Fantasia.
