Cinestate

Cinestate was a Dallas-based movie studio founded in 2016 by Dallas Sonnier.[4] The company produced ten films under a variety of production labels, in addition to retroactively claiming the 2014 film Bone Tomahawk, produced independently by Sonnier, as a Cinestate movie.[5] In 2017, the company acquired Fangoria magazine, relaunching it in 2018 as a print-only collectible under the editorial oversight of Phil Nobile Jr.[6] In 2019, the company announced the launch of Rebeller Media, an action label that would have encompassed a production company and lifestyle website to be managed by Washington Free Beacon journalist Sonny Bunch. In 2020, following the arrest of producer Adam Donaghey for sexual assault and a Daily Beast article alleging misconduct on Cinestate sets,[7] Rebeller was shut down[8] and Fangoria sold,[9][10] all Cinestate social media and websites went dormant, the company was closed and its entire staff laid off.

Cinestate
TypePrivate
IndustryMotion picture
Founded2016 (2016)
FounderDallas Sonnier
DefunctJune 2020[1]
FateShut down[2]
SuccessorBonfire Legend[3]
Headquarters
Dallas, TX
,
United States
Area served
Worldwide
Services
OwnerDallas Sonnier
DivisionsFangoria (2018-2020); Rebeller (2019-2020)
Websitecinestate.com

Two films produced by Cinestate under the "Fangoria Presents" and "Rebeller" labels, The Seventh Day and South of Heaven, respectively, were sold to distributors and released following the company's closure under the ad hoc label "Swiss Avenue Productions," named for the street where the company headquarters were once located.[11][12]

A successor company,[13] Bonfire Legend, was launched by Sonnier in early 2021 to carry on the company mission of the Rebeller Media label,[14] in partnership with the Daily Wire.[15]

History

Dallas Sonnier moved from Dallas, TX to California, attending USC and graduating with dual degrees in business and film.[16] He launched Caliber Media[17] and started managing writer and aspiring director, S. Craig Zahler. After acquiring the script for Bone Tomahawk from Zahler, Sonnier premiered the film through Caliber Media.[18] In 2016, Sonnier moved back to Dallas where he partnered with Will Evans, owner of Deep Vellum Publishing, to form Cinestate.[19]

Filmography
Movie Director Production Label Release Date
Bone Tomahawk S. Craig Zahler Caliber Media (retroactively Cinestate) September 25, 2015
Brawl in Cell Block 99 S. Craig Zahler Cinestate October 6, 2017
Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund Fangoria Presents August 17, 2018
The Standoff at Sparrow Creek Henry Dunham Cinestate January 18, 2019
Satanic Panic Chelsea Stardust Fangoria Presents May 31, 2019
Dragged Across Concrete S. Craig Zahler Cinestate March 22, 2019
VFW Joe Begos Fangoria Presents February 14, 2020
Castle Freak Tate Steinsiek Fangoria Presents December 4, 2020
Run Hide Fight Kyle Rankin Bonfire Legend (originally Rebeller) January 14, 2021
The Seventh Day Justin P. Lang Swiss Avenue Pictures (originally Fangoria Presents) March 26, 2021
South of Heaven Aharon Keshales Swiss Avenue Pictures (originally Rebeller) October 8, 2021

Other ventures

Fangoria

In 2018, Cinestate acquired Fangoria magazine from the Brooklyn Company for an undisclosed price, with plans to re-launch the publication as a quarterly edition and additionally develop Fangoria into a brand for producing movies, books and podcasts. As part of the deal, Cinestate controlled all material from over 300 issues of Fangoria magazine over 39 years.[20]

Following the 2020 Daily Beast article about misconduct on Cinestate sets, the staff of Fangoria staged a walkout in protest, resulting in the brand being sold.

Books

Cinestate released its first book, S. Craig Zahler's Hug Chickenpenny: The Panegyric of an Anomalous Child, alongside the announcement that Zahler would work with the Jim Henson Company to bring the title protagonist to life in an upcoming feature film.[21] Additionally, Cinestate published The Megarothke, the debut novel from Robert Ashcroft. Its most recent novel released under the Cinestate label was Headcheese by Jess Hagemann.[22] In 2020, a new Rebeller literary imprint was launched; a single title, Natasha Tynes' They Called Me Wyatt, was released shortly before the company shut down.

See also

References
  1. "MAGA Movies Are Here. Does Anybody Care?". Vice. 2022-02-17. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  2. "MAGA Movies Are Here. Does Anybody Care?". Vice. 2022-02-17. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  3. "MAGA Movies Are Here. Does Anybody Care?". Vice. 2022-02-17. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  4. "Dallas-based Cinestate forges its extreme entertainment path far from Hollywood". Dallas News. 2019-01-18. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  5. "Making Movies in the Trump Era for the Audience Hollywood Ignored". Wall Street Journal. 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
  6. Busch, Anita (2018-02-15). "Cinestate Acquires Fangoria Magazine, Installs New Management And Strategy". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  7. "Cinestate's #MeToo Scandal and the Upheaval of the Dallas Film Scene". D Magazine. 2020-01-08. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  8. @SonnyBunch (10 June 2020). "Sonny Bunch's Announcement of Rebeller Shutting Down" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. McMillan, Graeme (2020-08-27). "'Fangoria' Eyes Relaunch as Multimedia Studio Following Purchase". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  10. Squires, John (2020-08-27). "Fangoria Again Re-Animated With New Owners and Multimedia Plans". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  11. "Swiss Avenue Pictures Production Company Box Office History". The Numbers. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  12. "Dallas-based Cinestate forges its extreme entertainment path far from Hollywood". Dallas News. 2019-01-18. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  13. "MAGA Movies Are Here. Does Anybody Care?". Vice. 2022-02-17. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  14. "Did Bonfire Legend Go Too Far by Shooting a Live Deer for Run Hide Fight?".
  15. "The Daily Wire Makes First Foray into Film & TV with School Shooting Movie 'Run Hide Fight'; Right-Wing Site Developing Two TV Series". 4 January 2021.
  16. North, Caroline (2016-11-21). "Will Cinestate Pave the Road for a Film Industry in Dallas?". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  17. "For Dallas filmmaker, home is where the sadness is, but he's back to stay and make a mark". Dallas News. 2016-10-15. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  18. Miller, Stuart (2019-01-28). "How a "Populist" Film Studio Is Turning Rage and Violence Into Revenue". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
  19. North, Caroline (2016-11-21). "Will Cinestate Pave the Road for a Film Industry in Dallas?". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  20. Busch, Anita (2018-02-15). "Cinestate Acquires Fangoria Magazine, Installs New Management And Strategy". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  21. Gallagher, Danny (2017-12-21). "Jim Henson Co. Will Make Puppets for the Next Film by Dallas Movie Studio Cinestate". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
  22. Millican, Josh (2018-12-18). "Third Novel Published by Cinestate HEADCHEESE is Now Available". Dread Central. Retrieved 2019-06-07.
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