Film Regions International, Inc. (FRI)

02/17/2024

Recap of 2023 – annual shareholders meeting and first board meeting of 2024
> Indie film company plans for busy year

(LOS ANGELES, CA; February 17th, 2024) – Film Regions International, Inc. (FRI) held its annual shareholder meeting on January 7th as well as its first official board meeting of the new year, a week later on January 14th.

The shareholder meeting was very routine and non-controversial, despite earning a small net profit for the 2023 year, no share dividends were declared by the board as they had voted to retain those earnings into 2024. FRI co-chairman and president, John Blythe recapped in his annual report that despite the Writers and Actors strikes, FRI stayed busy with its finished films for distribution and reported that they had relatively decent returns which netted the profitability. The wider distribution releases of "The Curse", "Seven Angels", "Zeta" and "The New Hands" brought about some positive exposure to FRI as a film company during the year.

In a bylaw amendment passed in the shareholder meeting dealt with board members engaging in criminal activity and making it easier for removal by a two thirds majority of the board members, instead of a recall vote by the shareholders. “This really came to consideration at the heels of what happened at FTX and other companies. There were no mechanisms of dealing with a severe issue like this, should one ever transpire with a board member engaging in criminal activity” said Blythe.

The January 14th board meeting was also rather routine, with discussion centered around FRI’s three year strategic plan which ended in 2024. Blythe and FRI co-chairman Myron Ward want to revisit the plan and review what had worked and more importantly, what had not worked and then recommend a new plan for adoption by the board. “I think our biggest obstacle is still working capital, even though we’re making improvements” said Blythe. “We also need guidance and better advisory roles on the board” said Ward. Of the current vacancies on the board, no candidates were submitted by the shareholders for the 2024-2025 board term. This does not mean the board can appoint an interested party from serving on the board down the road. “We need to put some feelers out to experienced or retired industry executives which would be beneficial, while we can just focus on running the overall production company” said Ward.

The board voted to keep Blythe and Ward as co-chairmen of the board in addition to Blythe’s role as president, which contractually will expire in 2025. Ward will also serve another year as board secretary. Other items adopted by the board included adopting the 2024 fiscal year operating budget with line items for film projects that were supposed to go into production last year and instead will go into production this year. “How to Kill Your Family at Christmas and Get Away with It” is scheduled to begin filming later in February and into March and “How Kill Your Co-Workers and Get Away with It”, “Vulpes” and “Inverted” are all finishing up post-production and readying for distribution into the year.

“We also have a handful of productions in active development and we seem to be making headway into film financing capital opportunities, so we’re planning a busy year indeed!” said Blythe.

02/16/2024

Anchor Bay Entertainment get rebooted by Umbrelic Entertainment co-founders Thomas Zambeck and Brian Katz. Label sets 'Abruptio' & 'Dinner With Leatherface' as first releases.

02/14/2024

Brooklyn-based filmmaker Ged Dickersin (CODA) is launching the production company True Indy to make films that can and should be made independently.

02/07/2024

We want to congratulate John Blythe for outstanding Leadership over Film Regions International (FRI) and his fiduciary diligence that ushered some outstanding numbers, here’s a few based on investor’s participation for MY AMITYVILLE HORROR:

• 10.56% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)* for the past 10 years.
• 72.86% ROI* cumulatively since inception of initial investment.

*(adjusted for section 181.)

The financial metrics for the distribution company:

• 18.73% ROI over 10 year period.
• 9.76% ROA over 10 year period.
• 6.73% CAGR over 10 year period.

This is a significant feat do to most film projects lose money. We witnessed John stick to the day in and out of accounting for this project for over a decade and believe he’s one of the most solids executives and partners in the industry.

01/14/2024

Our horror/comedy "The New Hands" available in YOUR hands on select VOD platforms as well as DVD!!

Film Regions International (FRI) is an independent production, development and distribution entity.

01/14/2024

"Zeta" now available on select VOD, streaming and cable platforms. Film Threat was recently kind enough to give our epic foreign language zombie horror film an 8/10!! Check it out!

01/13/2024

Incredibly awesome review from Film Threat of the Indonesian foreign language zombie apocalypse film “Zeta” that we handled US licensing for distribution! Now in release!

https://filmthreat.com/reviews/zeta-the-dead-awaken/?fbclid=IwAR0Z4UiJxNRzk1PEyU81zGJMoFzs-tRC__z7UoFyUUPoMRj_h3ZkT2LRxA0

Deon (Jeff Smith) is a high school delinquent struggling with school. Despite his anger issues and violent tendencies at school, Deon cares for his Mother, Isma (Mini Theo), whose Alzheimer's requires the need of constant care. The mother and son are scraping by in a large city in Indonesia, living....

01/02/2024

12/22/2023

We want to wish all of our friends and colleagues in the motion picture industry a very Merry Christmas!

12/17/2023

Special board meeting held, FRI plans potential developments for 2024
> Net profit reported for end of year

(LOS ANGELES, CA; December 12th, 2023) – A special board of directors meeting held on December 10 had some good news to close out 2023. John Blythe, co-chairman and chief executive officer of FRI reported that the fiscal year end will report a net profit which he attributes to filmed entertainment revenues being relatively decent this year and controlling fixed costs. While the exact figures will vary before the close of the year on December 31 as FRI anticipates additional payments from Amazon and Film Hub, it was a least promising news that the independent movie company is working on its targeted financial goals. The board decided to not declare dividends out of the net profits, adopting a resolution to rather retain earnings carried forward as the fund balance for fiscal year 2024 and will improve the company’s bottom line position.

Related to a similar matter regarding filmed entertainment revenues, the board voted to not renew its distribution contract with Gravitas Entertainment, citing diminishing returns year after year. Gravitas had requested a three year extension on its contract, but the board felt it might be a wise decision to find another distributor exploiting some of FRI’s titles in other territories. “Some options may include aggregators as well” said Myron Ward, co-chairman and secretary of FRI.

On a legal matter, Blythe submitted a bylaw amendment request which was approved by the board but will require ratification by FRI’s shareholders in January. The bylaw amendment was with relation to Article III of the board of directors and adding verbiage that would allow a two-thirds majority vote of the board to expel a board member who has or is engaging in illegal and criminal activity. “Before, there was no mechanism to deal with a situation like this except through a recall vote by the shareholders or through sanctioning or censuring by a majority vote of the board. Hopefully a situation like this will never arise with any of our current or future board members, but in light of recent issues that have gone on with FTX or Harvey Weinstein as an example, it gives power to the board under special and serious circumstances” said Blythe.

The board also took a little of time in discussion regarding some potential developments for upcoming new year including trying to secure financing for the war action/drama “Beyond Mosul” which could be FRI’s first major motion picture. Blythe reported that since the strike ended, the production team on the film has been vigilantly looking at financing options and one option may materialize after the new year. FRI is also planning on putting a couple more in-house projects into production, a horror film “Museum of the Dead” and a comedy/thriller “How to Kill Your Family at Christmas” (a sequel to FRI’s film shot last year, “How to Kill Your Co-Workers”).

Ward and Blythe will also be looking at finished film to license for domestic and worldwide distribution as well into the new year.

12/02/2023

EXCLUSIVE: Plan B Entertainment has started a new micro budget film finance initiative to produce and finance lower cost films which will be led by newly hired Caddy Vanasirikul. The veteran film p…

11/16/2023

A friendly reminder "The New Hands" is available for DVD and VOD! Only 6.49 on Amazon and makes good stocking stuffers just in time for Christmas!

10/31/2023

FRI to resume production amid continued strike.
> Busy financial third quarter; Hectic Films joint venture renewed.

(LOS ANGELES, CA; October 30th, 2023) – Film Regions International (FRI) will resume tentative production plans into 2024 despite the on-going SAG-AFTA strike, according to FRI co-chairman/chief executive officer John Blythe. At its October 15th board of directors meeting, Blythe indicated that SAG-AFTRA has allowed waivers to certain film productions and contracts will be retroactive after the strike is over. “There has been no resolution to contract negotiations at the present time and it is expected it may last into the new year, so for the interim we will either apply for a waiver or see if we can produce a feature a non-union basis,” said Blythe.

The company’s next feature film that was initially put on hold since June after the strike began is “How to Kill Your Family at Christmas”, a sequel to “How to Kill Your Co-Workers” which was produced last year. Blythe indicated that tentative plans are underway to get the project in pre-production soon. “Some of the company’s smaller budgeted productions can apply for a waiver, however the larger scale productions in development cannot.”

In the third fiscal quarter of FRI, Blythe and fellow FRI co-chairman Myron Ward indicated that it had been a very busy and productive three months. It’s in-house production “The New Hands” hit distribution on a handful of video-on-demand platforms, streaming and cable services, while its foreign acquisitions “Seven Angels”, “Zeta” and “The Curse” also were released as well. Indican Pictures is handling distribution for “The New Hands” and Buffalo 8 is handling “Seven Angels” and “Zeta”. “The Curse” was released via FRI’s aggregation service agreement with Film Hub. Financially, FRI reported a net profit of right around $5,000 for the quarter ending September 30 which Blythe and Ward attribute to its busy release schedule in recent months.

In addition to the production and financial news, the board voted to renew its joint venture agreement with Bakersfield based Hectic Films, headed by filmmaker Rickey Bird. As per a phone conversation with Bird had with Blythe, Hectic Films may have another feature film to produce which FRI could potentially get involved with. Since 2018, FRI has produced several films with Hectic Films including “Booze, Broads and Blackjack”, “The Video Store” and “Machine Gun Baby”.

On a sad note, Blythe mentioned that FRI’s longtime legal counsel David Pierce passed in August. Pierce had been an experienced entertainment attorney and helped set up FRI as a corporation in September 2009 when the company had started production on “My Amityville Horror”. “He was beneficial to FRI in so many ways and he will certainly be missed,” said Blythe.

10/13/2023

“Zeta” was formally added to Tubi TV today!

10/10/2023

Need some scary movies to watch this Halloween? Check out some of our many titles currently available on VOD and streaming!

"Zeta: When the Dead Awaken": available on Amazon Prime, Vudu, Google Play, YouTube, Apple TV, Cox, Comcast/Xfinity

"Seven Angels": available on Amazon Prime, Vudu, Plex, Google Play, YouTube, Apple TV, Cox, Comcast/Xfinity

"The New Hands": available on Amazon Prime, Tubi TV, Roku Channel, Vudu, Google Play, Apple TV

"My Amityville Horror": available on Amazon Prime, Tubi TV, Roku, Netflix, AMC+, YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV.

"Machine Gun Baby": available on Amazon Prime

"The Curse": available on Amazon Prime

09/15/2023

Now available on VOD streaming and cable, the Indonesian foreign language zombie horror/action film "Zeta: When the Dead Awaken" for worldwide release through our partnership with Buffalo 8 Media! Just when you thought your quarantine was bad, you haven't seen nothing yet!

Film Regions International (FRI) is an independent production, development and distribution entity.

08/03/2023

Shocked and sad to hear the passing of entertainment attorney David A. Pierce, he was our longtime legal counsel for Film Regions International, Inc. (FRI). Pierce was instrumental in helping us form FRI into an actual corporation in 2009 and often assisted us in production, investment and distribution contracts over these many years. Rest in peace David! Thank you for all of your legal advice and help to us as a little independent film company!

David Albert Pierce, an entertainment attorney who founded Pierce Law Group, LLP, in Beverly Hills in 1996 and over the course of his career represented clients from Milton Berle and The Comedy Sto…

07/30/2023

Now available, the Indonesian supernatural thriller "Seven Angels"!

07/23/2023

Films put on hiatus due to WGA, SAG-AFTRA strike
> Interim focus has been on releasing finished films, adopting new strategic plan.

(LOS ANGELES, CA; July 23rd, 2023) – At its July 9th board of directors meeting of Film Regions International, Inc. (FRI) one of the items for deliberation has been on the on-going Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the SAG-AFTRA strikes and its effect on the overall motion picture industry. The strike, largely due to concerns over residuals from streaming platforms as well as the advent of A.I., has been going on since May, with SAG-AFTRA effectively joining the WGA in July.

Prior to the strike, FRI had two films tentatively ready for production this year, “How to Kill Your Family at Christmas” and “Museum of the Dead”, however the strike derailed financing plans and stifling production agreements with SAG-AFTRA. “It was the consensus of the board to but these films on hold until a satisfactory contract can be reached between the WGA and SAG-AFTRA with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP)” said John Blythe, co-chairman/chief executive officer of FRI.

“It also puts me between a rock and a hard place as a member of the Producers Guild of America as they voted to stand in solidarity with both guilds.”

Despite its forthcoming films being put on hiatus most likely until the end of the year, FRI has been considering looking into another documentary film which would not be affected by either of the guilds’ strikes. In 2010, Blythe and former FRI co-chairman and shareholder Eric Walter had been considering development on a true-crime documentary on the mysterious con-artist, Elaine Parent, known as the World’s Most Wanted Woman. Recently, the duo have considered revisiting this documentary and applied for a documentary series fiscal sponsorship with From the Heart Productions, a 501c3 non-profit that helps films based on true events and social or educational causes. The FRI board voted to ratify moving forward on that sponsorship agreement for a documentary proposal should it come into fruition.

In May, Blythe and co-chairman Myron Ward met to develop a new three year strategic plan which was adopted by the board at its July board meeting. The new plan will prioritize selling its available stock, focusing on at least one or two major international co-productions and strengthening its corporation administration and governance.

In the meantime, FRI has been largely focused on releasing its finished films. In April, “The New Hands” was released by Indican Pictures on VOD, streaming and DVD/Blu-Ray; and through its distribution partnership with Bondit/Buffalo 8 Productions, FRI saw the release of the Indonesian supernatural thriller “Seven Angels” in May, also on various VOD platforms, and in October, will see a wider release of “Zeta”, another horror thriller from Indonesia. Bondit is also acquiring licensing of the documentary “Breaking 10” a documentary film that FRI is assisting in representing. Deskpop Entertainment recently acquired distribution for the grindhouse homage film “Inverted” which FRI was a co-producer on, and in the coming months, FRI’s in-house production “How to Kill Your Co-Workers” and another co-production, a Hungarian thriller “Vulpes” should both be ready for distribution. FRI has also been working with overseas distributors in Europe trying to lock licensing rights of “Aiyai – Wrathful Soul” in Spain and other territories.

“With this kind of distribution exposure, this will be great for FRI and hopefully to our bottom line as well” said Blythe.

05/31/2023

We are excited to announce that the Indonesian foreign language zombie horror apocalypse "Zeta: When the Dead Awaken" which we had licensed for U.S. distribution in 2020 will be receiving a much larger release through our worldwide distribution partnership with Buffalo 8/Bondit Media. "Zeta" was directed by first time female director Amanda Iswan and ironically is about a pandemic, even though it was filmed before covid! It will now hit VOD on September 15th on Amazon Prime, Vudu, Google Play, Apple TV, Screambox as well as cable including Comcast/Xfinity, Cox, Charter/Spectrum and Verizon Fios! If you thought your quarantine was bad, you haven't seen anything yet!

05/22/2023

A good read to understand the business of film distribution and the recoupments of film costs and maximizing profits.

Publication with a focus on independent film, offering articles, links, and resources.

05/21/2023

An updated list of productions currently in release as well as those coming soon and starting production later in 2023! Keep an eye out for them!!

05/20/2023

"The Curse" available in the US and UK on Amazon Prime:

https://www.amazon.com/Curse-Prisia-Nasution/dp/B0B8JT66W5/ref=sr_1_40?crid=2RQOPJ1ZCWOZ2&keywords=the+curse+movie&qid=1684620592&sprefix=the+curse+movi%2Caps%2C171&sr=8-40

05/20/2023

Now in release, the Indonesian supernatural thriller "Seven Angels"! Now available on select VOD and cable platforms!

05/16/2023

Film Regions International, Inc. (FRI) president John R. Blythe talks about his horror producing credits from My Amityville Horror to The New Hands and Machine Gun Baby to Inverted! This interview is courtesy of Ryan T. Cusick of iHorror News! Thank you for the opportunity!

We had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Producer and Production Consultant John R. Blythe on getting into the business,

05/12/2023

One of FRI's new "in association with" productions, we are assisting in the production of a new 80's retro style slasher horror, "Prettyface", directed by Francesco DePinto who was recently in the enormously successful Terrifier 2!

05/06/2023

https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3758822/9-new-horror-movies-releasing-this-week-including-evil-dead-rise/

Thank you Bloody Disgusting for the shout out on our film "The New Hands", now available on various VOD and streaming platforms!

This week is absolutely jam-packed with fresh horrors on the big screen and the smaller screen, but the highlight is of course the box office return of

05/05/2023

https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/453523/seven-angels-trailer-pop-stars-meet-ghosts-in-new-indonesian-thriller/

Thank you Dread Central for the shoutout on "Seven Angels". This supernatural thriller from Indonesia we are representing for US distribution and will be releasing on May 19th, through our distribution partnership with Bondit/Buffalo 8 Productions!

In the new Indonesian horror film 'Seven Angels', a girl band's trip to a haunted asylum goes horribly wrong.

04/28/2023

FRI has a handful of new films coming out
>Set to be a record year for distribution.

(LOS ANGELES, CA; April 28th, 2023) – At its first quarter board of directors on April 16th, co-chairman/chief executive officer John Blythe reported that Film Regions International, Inc. (FRI) is set to have a record year for multiple films in distribution. On April 4th, FRI’s long awaited horror slasher/comedy “The New Hands” starring Stephen Wu, Felissa Rose and Sally Kirkland was distributed by Indican Pictures on video on demand platforms including Amazon, Vudu, Apple TV and GooglePlay. A DVD/Blu-Ray release is expected later in June. FRI’s foreign films including “Seven Angels” and Zeta” will be distributed through its partnership with distributor Buffalo 8 in May on Amazon, Vudu, Tubi TV and cable platforms such as Cox and Comcast/Xfinity. FRI’s other finished films including its co-productions “Inverted” a grindhouse style homage film and “Vulpes” a thriller from Hungary, are awaiting responses from interested distributors. Another foreign film “The Curse” which was directed by Mohammad Yusuf who also helmed “Seven Angels” was distributed in February on Amazon, but will likely see an expanded platform release through FRI’s renegotiated aggregation contract with Film Hub, which the board approved at its quarterly meeting. “Aiyai-Wrathful Soul” (retitled for US distribution as “Wrath of Souls”) has been available for several months, although FRI does not have any domestic rights to the film, but is trying to secure certain non-US rights including VOD distribution in the Japanese and German territories for the film. FRI also had recently assisted in representing a new documentary “Breaking 10” directed by Joe Zohar which Buffalo 8 also has in consideration for distribution later this year; and post-production is being worked on its recent film “How to Kill Your Co-Workers and Get Away With It” with a rough cut possibly ready by the end of summer if not sooner.

“With all of this activity, its set to be a record year for us production wise but especially distribution, we’ve never had this many films in various forms of distribution in the history of our company” said Blythe. FRI is also planning on moving forward on a stand alone sequel to “How To Kill”, which will be entitled “How to Kill Your Family at Christmas and Get Away with It”, which is to be helmed by Robbie Dias as his first feature film. Two other low-budget films FRI currently has in development include “Juju” a voodoo thriller and “Museum of the Dead”, another horror film. FRI’s anticipated major motion picture “Beyond Mosul” continues to be in active development with Joth Riggs attached as director, although Blythe said that securing financing has been slower than expected and continue to investigate leads to get the film financed this year.

On the business end of things, Blythe reported that things are concerns over the pending writer’s strike in the industry but hopefully will not affect green lighting financing for its future projects. FRI co-chairman Myron Ward reported that he and Blythe will meet again before the next quarter board meeting to present a new three year strategic plan for FRI and to agree on goals that can be reached by set deadlines adopted by the board. Blythe also reported that 2022’s financials were signed off by accountant Debbie Stonebarger and that the company’s tax returns were filed and each shareholder was furnished a K-1 form. Blythe also welcomed a new shareholder, Erick Stryker who had helped executive produce “How to Kill Your Co-Workers” and is looking forward to FRI’s other upcoming feature films in development.

FRI will hold its next quarterly board of directors meeting in July.

04/18/2023

It's in your hands now... "The New Hands" now available on DVD/Blu-Ray and select VOD platforms!