Aaron W. Sala’s Launch Pad Finalist “The Beast” Sells to The H Collective

In a deal said to be worth mid-six figures, The H Collective has acquired Aaron W. Sala’s horror thriller spec THE BEAST, it was announced Tuesday.

Sherryl Clark (Super 8) of Busted Shark Productions will produce alongside The H Collective, which will also fully finance the feature. The producers have the project on the fast track, as they’re already looking to attach a director and an actress.

The Beast follows the sole survivor of a plane crash, who washes ashore on a mysterious island where she faces her worst fears.

“I was so enthralled by Aaron’s script that within 24 hours of reading we were aggressively pursuing the rights before it had the opportunity to be shopped around town. Aaron is truly a fantastic screenwriter and I anticipate we’re going to see much more from him,” said Nic Crawley, CEO of The H Collective.

“The Beast is a crowd-pleasing genre film with a social conscience. That combination is what got me excited about finding a like-minded home for this project,” said Clark, who believes the script offers “a tour de force performance piece for an actress in the vein of Gravity.”

The Beast recently advanced to the Top 10 of the 2017 Launch Pad Feature Competition, and Sala was already an alumni of the 2015 competition, which included his script The Fifth Stage. He’s represented by Verve, Madhouse Entertainment and attorney Jeff Frankel.

The H Collective is currently in production on an untitled horror feature produced by James Gunn and starring Elizabeth Banks, and in post-production on Christopher Cantwell’s The Parts You Lose starring Aaron Paul, Scoot McNairy and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

 Jeff Sneider | Editor in Chief