‘Backrooms,’ ‘Longlegs’ Producer Oddfellows Signs First-Look Deal With Warner Bros.

Chris Ferguson’s company Oddfellows has signed a first-look deal with Warner Bros. and intends to produce modestly budgeted movies for the studio’s new specialty label, Clockwork.

Oddfellows was founded in 2013 and is best known for producing indie horror hits like “Backrooms,” “Longlegs” and “The Monkey.” Clockwork is led by former Neon executive Christian Parkes, who worked with Ferguson on “Longlegs” and “The Monkey.”

As part of the deal, the Oddfellows studio in Vancouver will be utilized by Warner Bros. for projects backed by Ferguson as well as movies the company brings to him from across the motion picture group’s various labels, including Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema.

In a press release, Warner Bros. Clockwork said the pact with Ferguson will reinforce the label’s mission to “work with the best filmmakers in an aggressively priced theatrical film model.”

“The future of theatrical depends on a slate with real range — films of every size, style and ambition, from world-class established filmmakers to the bold new voices who will define what comes next. Chris Ferguson and the team at Oddfellows have built a filmmaker-first creative engine with a proven ability to discover, support and elevate original talent,” says Warner Bros. Pictures Group’s Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy. “This partnership gives us an exciting new way to bring distinctive, smartly produced films to audiences across the theatrical landscape.”

Ferguson praised Abdy and De Luca for fostering “the kind of studio environment that invites filmmakers to create their best work.”

“It was obvious right away that we’re driven by the same passion for talent,” Ferguson said. “Together we are going to be able to be ambitious and take the risks we need to elevate the next generation of filmmakers while continuing to forge new ground with the greatest artists of today.”

Osgood Perkins, who directed “Longlegs” and “The Monkey,” and Kane Parsons, the filmmaker behind “Backrooms,” attributed the success of their films to a helpful hand from Ferguson and his team.

“Chris Ferguson and his merry band of brilliant collaborators at Oddfellows did nothing less than teach me what it actually means to be a filmmaker,” said Perkins. “We discovered ‘Longlegs’ as a collective and without their inspiration and impact I’d still be just some guy.”

Parsons teased he’s “very excited to continue collaborating with this lot.”

“I cannot stress enough how integral Chris and the Oddfellows team were to the creation and success of ‘Backrooms.’ The level of intense care, focus, and trust I found from every individual we worked with was incredibly heartening,” Parsons said. “Chris is a fantastically meticulous creative partner and has done a stand-out job of curating a well-oiled, human-centric production system over the last decade.

Warner Bros. Clockwork’s inaugural feature is Sean Baker’s “Ti Amo,” described as a “love letter to the Italian sex comedies of the ’60s and ’70s.” The budding label has since acquired director Park Chan-Wook’s western “The Brigands of Rattlecreek” and Ken Russell’s “The Devils.”