Origin Releasing Acquires “Lazarus”

Writer/director Thomas J. Churchill’s (Syfy’s Monster Man, Emerging Past) 1957 styled zombie film Lazarus: Day of the Living Dead tells the story of the beginning of the zombie apocalypse and is scheduled for a July 2014 summer release through Origin Releasing.

Established in late 2012, Origin’s team of executives have over 100 years of experience in distribution, production and acquisitions for disc distribution, VOD, television and theatrical. “We are very excited to be working with Thomas and his team at Church Hill Productions and look forward to being a part of the distribution of his films,” stated Brian Jaynes, COO at Origin.

“The film will be available everywhere, including but not limited to Redbox and all wholesale stores such as Walmart and Best Buy and will also be available on all major cable and satellite providers for VOD, including Netflix, iTunes and more,” stated Churchill.

Produced by Churchill and David M. Parks with cinematography by Wolfgang Meyer, Lazarus revolves around the character of George Lazarus (Ray Capuana), an insurance investigator who schedules routine interviews with twelve employees of the Deadly Sin Cigarette Company upon the receipt of a rather suspicious insurance claim. In the process, he learns that all twelve had recently been fired for being sick at the job, and then subsequently and without a trace, they disappeared. Two weeks later, with Lazarus now a missing person, his heart-sick fiancée Bethany Loomis (Natalie Victoria) and Chip (Kevin Franklin) undertake the task of finding him. While retracing his steps, they learn that what was initially regarded as a simple fraud investigation case may actually be the beginning of the end of the human race.

Set in Hollywood in 1957, the film also stars Stephen Geoffreys (Fright Night), Brooke Lewis (iMurders), Josh Hammond (Jeepers Creepers 2), James Duval (Sushi Girl), Brian Andrews (Halloween), Janet Tracy Keijser (House on Haunted Hill), Kenneth J. Hall (The Puppet Master), Krista Grotte and Taylor Morgan Lewis. Roy Knyrim’s SOTA FX provides the special effects, with Clayton Brickert and Robert Giddens assisting.

“What we are hoping for audiences to take from their viewing experience of the film,” explains Churchill, “is that we want them to say, ‘If Hitchcock told a zombie film, this would be it.’ I think it’s a very intense, graphic and fresh entry to the zombie genre, and we want them to want more as this is the first in a proposed Lazarus trilogy.”