Vertical Entertainment Acquires Worldwide Rights to PAYBACK

Vertical Entertainment has acquired the worldwide rights to crime drama Payback. The film marks the feature debut of director Joseph Mensch. Starring Matt Levett (A Place To Call Home), Anna Baryshnikov (Manchester By the Sea), and Toby Leonard Moore (John Wick), the film follows a young stockbroker at a Mob-controlled Wall Street firm who gets betrayed and sent to prison for six years. When he gets out, his quest for vengeance makes him a target of the Russian mafia. Vertical plans an early 2021 release.

"We are honored and grateful to be working with Vertical, whose steadfast support of independent film is matched by their unique business savvy," said Mensch. "Our movie is in good hands."

The deal was negotiated by Peter Jarowey and Josh Spector at Vertical with Nate Bolotin of XYZ Films on behalf of the filmmakers.

Payback was directed by Joseph Mensch; written by Mensch and Metin Aksoy; produced by Adam Folk; cinematography by Ryan Samul; production design by Annie Simeone; costume design by Amit Gajwani; edited by Max Koepke; music by Jeff Grace. The film was produced by Mensch Productions and Bullet Pictures.

Vertical Entertainment is a global independent distributor that offers a unique combination of full-service marketing and sales services. Dedicated to providing highly-effective and collaborative solutions, Vertical leverages unparalleled relationships to maximize revenue across all streams. The marketing and sales expertise from Vertical's seasoned team gives content partners a wealth of experience minus the studio costs.

Vertical won a Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress for Molly Shannon's role in "Other People" and the film won a GLAAD Award for "Outstanding Film Limited Release" as well. Vertical also had four other Indie Spirit nominations - three more for "Other People" (Best Lead Actor for Jesse Plemons, and Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay for filmmaker Chris Kelly) and one for Best International Film for Babak Anvari's "Under the Shadow," which was also the official UK submission for the 2017 Oscars, in addition to winning one BAFTA Award and three British Independent Film Awards as well.

Upcoming Vertical releases include "The Informer" starring Joel Kinnaman, Rosamund Pike, Common, Clive Owen, and Ana de Armas; "Shadow in the Cloud" starring Chloe Grace Moretz and Nick Robinson; "The True Adventures of Wolfboy" starring Jaeden Martell and John Turturro; "Proxima" starring Eva Green and Matt Dillon; and "Skylin3s", the third installment of the Skyline franchise. Other notable recent releases include "Miss Juneteenth", the directorial debut of filmmaker Channing Godfrey Peoples starring Nicole Beharie, Kendrick Sampson, and Alexis Chikaeze; "Robin's Wish", the powerful true story of actor/comedian Robin Williams' final days; "Yes, God, Yes" starring Natalia Dyer, Timothy Simons, Wolfgang Novogratz and Alisha Boe; "Then Came You" starring Kathie Lee Gifford, Craig Ferguson and Elizabeth Hurley; "Archive" starring Theo James and Stacy Martin; "A Nice Girl Like You" starring Lucy Hale, Jackie Cruz and Mindy Cohn; "Capone" starring Tom Hardy, Linda Cardellini, and Kyle Maclachlan; "Inheritance" starring Lily Collins, Simon Pegg, Chace Crawford and Connie Nielsen; "Human Capital" starring Liev Schreiber, Marisa Tomei, Peter Saarsgard and Maya Hawke, "Code 8" starring Stephen Amell, Robbie Amell, and Sung Kang, "Can You Keep A Secret?" starring Alexandra Daddario, Tyler Hoechlin and Laverne Cox, "American Woman" starring Sienna Miller, Aaron Paul and Christina Hendricks; "The Professor and the Madman" starring Mel Gibson, Sean Penn and Natalie Dormer "Drunk Parents" starring Alec Baldwin, Salma Hayek, Jim Gaffigan, Ben Platt and Joe Manganiello; "Lying and Stealing" starring Theo James and Emily Ratajkowski; Keith Behrman's "Giant Little Ones" starring Josh Wiggins, Kyle Maclachlan, and Maria Bello; Rob Reiner's "Shock and Awe" starring Woody Harrelson, James Marsden, Milla Jovovich, Jessica Biel, and Tommy Lee Jones; and Kevin Connolly's "Gotti" starring John Travolta, Kelly Preston and Chris Mulkey.