EXCLUSIVE: Starboard Entertainment has acquired Wardcliffe, a pandemic thriller from writer-director David Ferino. 

Starboard picked the film up at this year’s Cannes Market. 

Inspired by real events, Wardcliffe stars Joel McKinnon Miller (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) alongside Shane Coffey (Pretty Little Liars) and unfolds almost entirely within the confines of a family home during the early days of the COVID pandemic.

The film’s synopsis reads: “Over the course of a single day, decades of tension escalate to a boiling point as a father and son quarantine together during the 2020 pandemic lockdown.” 

The film marks the feature directorial debut of Ferino, who also served as writer and editor on the project. Ferino recently signed on with Starboard to direct Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence, the newest installment in the long-running cult franchise. Starring in that film are David Koechner, John Astin, Dan Bakkedahl, Catherine Corcoran, Paul Bates, Vernee Watson, and Eric Roberts.

“When I first heard of this news event in 2020, I knew it had the right criteria for a first feature,” Ferino said of Wardcliffe. “The film could be made on a small production scale, but with big emotional weight. It’s a tragedy that encapsulates the heightened anxiety we collectively shared throughout the pandemic.”

Wardcliffe was produced and independently financed by Roger M. Mayer through Brooklyn Reptyle Productions. Mayer’s producing credits include Antibirth, starring Natasha Lyonne and Chloë Sevigny, and the short LaZercism, directed by Shaka King and starring LaKeith Stanfield and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Mayer is also producing the aforementioned Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence.

Executive producers on Wardcliffe include Jenifer Ellis and Kevin Ragsdale. Jonathan Rosenblit is co-producer. Honey Anne Shively is associate producer for Brooklyn Reptyle alongside Jake Bergman and Julie Mond. The film’s creative team includes cinematographer Patrick Russo, production designer Vanesa Liska, original score composer Max Lombardo, and additional music by Braedon Speakman.