Independent film production company CinemaStreet Pictures is launching the ‘New Voices in Horror’ slate of films it was announced today by company CEO Dana Offenbach. The slate champions queer, female identifying, immigrant, and BIPOC voices and will consist of 4-6 films annually in a variety of budget ranges. Dhruv Sud, CinemaStreet’s Head of Development, will oversee the slate and report to Offenbach. Offenbach is represented by Ramo law, with Stu Arbury and Tiffany Boyle closely advising on the slate, project packaging and sales.
The first project in production on the ‘New Voices’ slate is “i am very lonely” a genre bending thriller from the sadistic mind of writer director Anika Benkov (The Binding of Itzik) and starring Colin Bates (2024 Venice and TIFF title Queer from Luca Guadagnino and the upcoming HBO's Task from Brad Ingelsby) and Benkov. Vadim Egoul and Dhruv Sud are producing, with Dana Offenbach executive producing. In the film, a nonbinary Jewish game designer (Benkov) living a secret double life as an online 'sub' (submissive) goes down the rabbit hole when they discover their internet dom is a real life fascist and attempt to de-radicalize him through their mutual brainwashing kink without losing themself in the process.
Independent and female-led production company CinemaStreet Pictures was founded in 2011 with a mission to amplify and uplift underserved and marginalized voices in the creative arts. Born and raised in Washington Heights, New York City, NAACP nominee Dana Offenbach founded the company after wrapping production on Qasim Basir's first film Moozlum. Other early credits include Julius Onah’s first feature The Girl Is in Trouble, executive produced by Spike Lee and released domestically on multi platforms (including theatrical) by E One Films in 2015 and through Odin’s Eye internationally. Offenbach's fearlessness is what allows her to nurture new and unrepresented talent, often at the forefront of discovering generational talents. Since its inception, CinemaStreet Pictures expanded into commercial production, creating social and branded content for multiple leading brands. In 2023, Offenbach produced To Live and Die and Live which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. She recently directed the documentary DEAR AMERICA: A Message from Black Women for Project Ready – a non-profit, non-partisan grassroots advocacy organization, through Yonkers based media company Freedom Studios, devoted to protecting and expanding high-quality education in urban communities through increased voter turnout and civic engagement. She also has the short Love from Friends playing at the Chelsea Film Festival.
Dhruv Sud, as Head of Development at CinemaStreet Pictures, produces narrative, documentary, and commercial content. As an in-house Producer, Sud brings over a decade of production and development experience ranging from fashion, commercial and branded, documentary, social impact, and narrative. Sud is a member of BAFTA Connect and is an inaugural recipient of the Joel Schumacher / Sophia Cranshaw Mentorship Award from The Gotham Film & Media Institute. Sud is a recipient of the 2022 Phil Johnston Comedy Grant and a 2024 semifinalist for New Voices Filmmaker Grant by Newfest, supported by Netflix. Dhruv has an extensive production background with a variety of credits on films screened at TIFF, Tribeca, Sundance London, and Palm Springs.
“In my career, I’ve never been afraid to cultivate new talent. I have always taken risks on upcoming voices that don’t have the industry’s traditional seal of approval. It’s in this space that I’ve thrived. I aim to nurture the next generation of undiscovered talent with essential voices. To that end, Dhruv Sud is the perfect collaborator to bring this division to life and manage the fresh unconventional roster of diverse perspectives of our slate,” said Dana Offenbach
“Horror deals with ostracization and otherness in a way that many people from marginalized communities, like myself and the other filmmakers on our slate, resonate with on a core level. If you look at what’s currently happening at the box office, it’s clear we are at a transformative time for independent genre film and we as artists can, and should, collectively build a more equitable and inclusive future,” added Dhruv Sud.
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