Hollywood Suite Acquires Doc The Ashgrove Experiment
By Kelly Townsend
Playback; May 7, 2024
EXCLUSIVE: The doc details the making of the 2022 improvised drama Ashgrove, which has been sold to a dozen more territories.
Hollywood Suite has acquired a documentary on the making of Jeremy LaLonde’s 2022 thriller Ashgrove.
Titled The Ashgrove Experiment and directed by Christopher Warre Smets (The Last Hitman), the documentary follows the crew as they embark on the unique filmmaking journey of shooting an improvised drama during a global pandemic.
Ashgrove was filmed around Kitchener and Waterloo, Ont. in September 2020, based on a concept created by director-producer LaLonde and star-producer Jonas Chernick (The Burning Season) in 2019. The process saw lead actor and executive producer Amanda Brugel and the ensemble improvise the film, with Brugel having no knowledge of its big twist.
The Ashgrove Experiment will make its theatrical premiere at Toronto’s Revue Cinema on May 14, with Brugel, Chernick and LaLonde among the cast and crew appearing for a Q&A. The doc will debut on Hollywood Suite on June 10 as a double feature with Ashgrove.
The team behind the experimental drama has also announced a raft of sales for the film across multiple continents. New territories include Brazil (Gabia), Japan (TWA), the Middle East (Saliby Ancillary), the Philippines (Eastern Limited), South Korea (Entermode), Taiwan (Sky Digi Entertainment), Turkey (Blue Media) and Vietnam (JS Corporation).
Sales for the film were negotiated by U.S. sales agency Cardinal XD Films. Ashgrove was previously sold to U.K. distributor (Yet) Another Distribution Company via a deal with the producers following the film’s world premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival in 2022.
Ashgrove was produced by Chernick’s Banana-Moon Sky Films, LaLonde’s Cryingman Productions and Peter Harvey Productions. It was financed with the support of the Canada Media Fund, Hollywood Suite and private equity.
The film also starred Shawn Doyle, Natalie Brown, Sugith Varughese and Christine Horne. It was distributed theatrically by Northern Banner Releasing in Canada and Good Deed Entertainment in the U.S.
