FONU2 Inc., which operates Moon River Studios in Effingham County, announced today that it has signed agreements to finance and produce the motion picture film “Mara.”
Moon River agreed in October to downsize its massive studio plans from 1,560 acres to 51 acres on property the county’s Industrial Development Authority (IDA) owns on Old River Road at Interstate 16, but the documents making that change have not yet been signed.
Meanwhile, the company said in a Dec. 30 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that its annual report for the year ended Sept. 30 will be delayed because it doesn’t have money to pay auditors.
When the new agreement is signed with the IDA, Moon River will go to a yearly lease agreement for the property and will have to come up with a lease payment of approximately $55,000.
FONU2 said in a news release today that the movie will be co-produced with Myles Nestel and Craig Chapman of The Solution Entertainment Group LLC, Scott Mann and James Edward Barker of Mann Made Films Ltd., Steven Schneider and Wendy Rhoads.
The Solution Entertainment Group will be managing all international sales for the film, the release said.
Moon River will invest $800,000 as equity in the film, which will be shot and produced entirely on location in coastal Georgia, the company said.
The Moon River financing is being provided by a private equity firm based in New York, and is collateralized by the project, with no stock conversion features. “The balance of the approximate $2.5 million film budget will be financed through a combination of foreign sales and tax credits,” the release said.
The film was introduced by Grodnik/Aloe Productions. It is based on a medical condition called “sleep paralysis,” when a person feels the presence of a supernatural malevolent being that immobilizes him.