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A wholly modern horror story is set to get the feature treatment.
“iHunt: Killing Monsters in the Gig Economy,” the independently distributed novel series and tabletop RPG by Hill and Young, is getting a film adaptation.
Olivia Hill wrote the script. Hill and Young are a Chicago-based queer married writing duo who have developed the “iHunt” universe over seven novels released during 10 years under their Machine Age Productions banner. Hill is a trans woman, and the project is LGBTQIA+-led.
Scott Glosserman, who helmed both “Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon” and its currently-in-production sequel, is set to direct. Jess Elgene is featured as Sandra, a new character created for the film. The project will be filmed in association with Anarchists United Studios, with Lilly Wachowski (“The Matrix”), Sarah Marie Flores and Lawrence Mattis set as executive producers. The feature is also produced by Matt Skrobalak (Butler Hall Productions), Stirling Matheson (Bravura Arts and Entertainment Ltd.) and Hill and Filamena Young (Machine Age Productions).
Per the official synopsis, “Set in the fictional California city of San Jenaro, #iHunt follows a trio of women who are best friends navigating monster-hunting through a gig-work app, blending horror-comedy with sharp socioeconomic commentary.”
“#iHunt has been our focus for the past 10 years, and we want nothing more than to bring it to a wider audience,” Hill and Young said in a statement. “Supernatural horror has always been an amazing tool for telling stories about the very real problems people face. And if you’ve stood up to eviction and Dracula, you know eviction can be so much scarier.”
“What drew me to Olivia’s script is how cleverly she uses the conventions of horror to explore something genuinely frightening, which is the illusion of choice in a world where survival itself has become a gig. It’s irreverent, provocative and supremely entertaining, but beneath all the monsters and mayhem is a story about what freedom really means when you can’t afford to say no. That’s the kind of genre storytelling I love,” Glosserman also said in a statement.
“Anarchists United is thrilled to be on board with #iHunt and support Olivia Hill and Filamena Young’s referential and all too relatable world of late late-stage capitalism in the vampiric age,” Anarchists United said in a statement. “Even in afterdeath, access to health insurance bites, but besties are worth fighting for.”
In addition to the movie, a TV pilot written by Hill and Young is also in development, with Anne Cofell Saunders (“The Boys”) attached as showrunner.
Per the pilot’s logline, “Set in the same city with an entirely different cast of characters, the pilot follows Lana, who leads a crew of broke hunters taking gigs through the app until a routine hospital job turns into a full-blown monster infestation and puts them on the radar of Arthur, an ancient vampire executive.”
Hill and Young have also created “#iHunt: A Night in the Life,” a vertical series in which, per the logline, “Hannah, a struggling hunter, figures out the real money is in content and starts livestreaming her monster hunts.”
Elgene is represented by Artists First and Resolute Artists Agency. Glosserman is represented by attorney Tanya Mallean of Skrzyniarz & Mallean. Matheson is represented by attorney Arthur Evrensel of MEP Business Counsel.
See the key art for the project below.
