THE POSTHUMAN PROJECT - John Hughes meets superheroes

My friend Sterling Gates recently co-wrote a micro-budget film that's been getting some notice at a few festivals and today it's finally available on VOD. The movie has been described as "John Hughes meets superhero origins" and just this week got a very positive review from Ain't It Cool News.

In “The Posthuman Project”, five friends on the verge of graduating high school accidentally receive superpowers during a rock-climbing trip. The genetic boost changes everything and they are faced with the first decisions of their adult lives. Will they give up these powers and continue to live as normal teenagers? Or will embrace their newfound powers and become posthuman?



The Posthuman Project: Official Trailer from Kyle Roberts on Vimeo.

Sterling, who cowrote the film with Matthew Price, was the perfect person to tackle this material, having written in comics for almost eight years. During that time, he's written for GREEN LANTERN CORPS, WORLD'S FINEST, VIBE, HAWK &; DOVE and had a very well-received run on the SUPERGIRL title.

Price and Gates, along with director Kyle Roberts, are Oklahoma natives and were honored last month with the Trailblazer Award at The 16th Annual BareBones International Independent Film and Music Festival in Muskogee Oklahoma. In March, it won GeekFest Film Fest’s Best Feature Award at Long Beach Comic Expo 2015.

Click here to find the film on iTunes.



Press Release follows

Reckless Abandonment Pictures is announcing today worldwide video-on-demand distribution for the award-winning independent film “The Posthuman Project”, a superhero teen drama written by comic book writer Sterling Gates (DC Comics’ SUPERGIRL) and THE OKLAHOMAN journalist Matthew Price and directed by Kyle Roberts, making his debut as a feature film director. “The Posthuman Project” will be available on all major video-on-demand platforms for a May 1, 2015 release and is currently available for pre-order on iTunes.

In “The Posthuman Project”, five friends on the verge of graduating high school accidentally receive superpowers during a rock-climbing trip. The genetic boost changes everything and they are faced with the first decisions of their adult lives. Will they give up these powers and continue to live as normal teenagers? Or will embrace their newfound powers and become posthuman? The film stars Kyle Whalen, Collin Place, Lindsay Sawyer, Alexandra Harris, Josh Bonzie and Rett Terrell. The film’s producers include Vahid Farzaneh, Wendy Parker, Sha’ree Green, Matthew Price and Sterling Gates, with John Scamehorn and Kyle Roberts executive producing.

The ninety-minute feature was shot on location in Oklahoma with an all-local cast and crew and has played across the United States, Europe and South America to sold-out crowds as part of the festival circuit, winning ten awards overall, including Best Feature at five festivals.

For the film, Emmy Award-winning director Kyle Roberts fused together his love of teen drama with superheroic adventure. “This film is tonally influenced by John Hughes movies of the 1980s and Marvel’s X-MEN,” said Roberts. "A cross genre feature like this is something I haven't seen done before. And we accomplished it with a micro-budget."

The film also features the song "Thrilla in Manila” by singer-songwriter and pianist Greyson Chance, whose performance of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" has over 50 million views on YouTube and who has appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Chance will release his second studio album, Planet X, in 2015. The album's second single "Meridians" was released last month.

The film’s writers are well versed in the world of super powers. In addition to writing for the OKLAHOMAN, Matthew Price owns Speeding Bullet Comics in Oklahoma. His co-writer, the Tulsa, Oklahoma native Sterling Gates has written multiple titles for DC Comics, including ACTION COMICS, GREEN LANTERN CORPS and JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA.

“We wanted to capture the teen experience of graduating high school and filter it through the lens of a comic book movie,” said co-writer Sterling Gates. “These characters are all dealing with vastly different struggles and emotions as their graduation looms near, but most of all, they’re worried about how their lives are going to change. One day, everything changes for them in a bigger way than they could have ever possibly imagined.”

“A superhero origin story ala John Hughes...Impressive.”— Ain’t It Cool News

“This is a fresh break from all of these so called "realistic," dark and depressing superhero movies. You're going to enjoy this movie if you're a comic book fan or just somebody that enjoys sci-fi/adventure movies.”— MoviePilot

About Sterling Gates

Sterling Gates was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He earned a degree in Art from the University of Oklahoma, specializing in Film and Media Arts, Sterling has written for various DC Comics titles including GREEN LANTERN CORPS, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, WORLD'S FINEST, ACTION COMICS, ADVENTURE COMICS, FLASHPOINT: KID FLASH LOST, HAWK & DOVE, JLA: VIBE, FOREVER EVIL: A.R.G.U.S., and STORMWATCH; he is best known for his acclaimed run on SUPERGIRL. Alongside writers Geoff Johns, James Robinson, and Greg Rucka, Sterling co-wrote the New York Times best-selling "Superman: New Krypton Saga" graphic novel series, including SUPERMAN: NEW KRYPTON, SUPERMAN: THE LAST STAND OF NEW KRYPTON, and SUPERMAN: WAR OF THE SUPERMEN.

He also scripted the MAN OF STEEL prequel comic (based on a story by David S. Goyer, Geoff Johns, and Zack Snyder) in a joint digital publishing venture between DC Comics and Wal-Mart. You can follow him on Twitter at @sterlinggates

About Matthew Price

Matthew Price is a Features Editor for THE OKLAHOMAN, where he’s worked since 2000. He’s a University of Oklahoma graduate who has also worked at the ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE and was a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund intern for the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. He’s always been interested in comics, reading them at age 2, working in comic shops starting at 17, printing his first comics 'zine at 20 and buying a comic-book store at 23. His column on comics, WORD BALLOONS, has run weekly in THE OKLAHOMAN’s Weekend Look section since 2001. Matt's blog, NERDAGE, has been honored by the Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists, and his store, Norman's Speeding Bullet Comics, co-owned with his wife, Annette, was nominated for the Eisner Spirit of Retailing Award in 2005. You can follow him on Twitter at @nerdage.

About Kyle Roberts

Kyle Roberts is an Emmy Award-winning director with over 10 years of experience. He currently serves as the owner of Reckless Abandonment Pictures LLC, an independent motion picture company based in Oklahoma City, OK. Roberts specializes in film projects including stop motion animation and music videos. Through these creative efforts, media outlets all over the world have written about RA-Pictures including mentions from the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, VH1, Gizmodo, WIRED Magazine, and Mashable. In 2012, Roberts was selected to compete on Syfy's first season of 'Viral Video Showdown'. You can follow him on Twitter at @VideoKyle