Joe Swanberg-Produced Horror Film ‘Monkey’s Magic Merry Go Round’ Heads To AFM With Great Escape

EXCLUSIVE: Ahead of the AFM, LA-based Great Escape is launching sales on horror film Monkey’s Magic Merry Go Round, the first project on the Terror Town genre slate from producer Joe Swanberg and Yale Productions.

Michael Gilio, whose screenwriting credits include MGM’s Dark Harvest and Paramount’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, stars in the movie.

From first-time feature director Aidan Leary, the film will get its world premiere next month at the Leeds International Film Festival in the UK.

The synopsis reads: “Something really bad happened to James Jensen when he was a kid.  While hosting the latest episode of his children’s series ‘Monkey’s Magic Merry Go Round,’ his repressed memories begin to emerge, threatening his sanity, and possibly his life.  Will Monkey and the Playground Pals help James recover his lost memories, or have they been withholding something from him all along? Where is the Post Lady hiding? And who is The Freak?”

Pic was produced by Jordan Yale Levine and Jordan Beckerman of Yale Productions, Swanberg, Ben Gojer and Will Hirschfeld. Great Escape’s Nicholas Donnermeyer executive-produced alongside Edmund Lowell, Jeffrey Tussi, Clay Pecorin, Russell Geyser, Dajana Gudic, Declan Morgan, Jeremy Gardner, Matthew Ajayi, Carla Jones, David Rudnick and Jason Kringstein.  

Leary co-wrote the screenplay with C.R. Thompson, who also edited.

“I am blown away by what this team of accomplished. Leary and Thompson immediately announce themselves as bold new talents,” Donnermeyer stated. “It’s very rare to come across a debut feature that is so assured and precise in its execution. This film is a trip. I can’t wait to see this with an audience.”

“Michael did such an incredible job. So much of the film rests on his shoulders, as he’s essentially the only flesh-and-blood performer on screen,” Levine and Beckerman said in a joint statement. “That said: the puppets in this film are outstanding as well. Both in their creation and in their performance, they feel instantly iconic.”

Terror Town’s upcoming slate includes Kenneled from director Jay Burleson (The Third Saturday in October) and an untitled feature from Jae Matthews, writer-producer of the Sundance 2023 pic My Animal and one half of the dark electro-pop duo Boy Harsher.

Chicago-based Swanberg has directed more than 20 features, including Drinking Buddies, Happy Christmas, and Nights and Weekends, which he co-directed with Greta Gerwig. In addition to writing and directing all 25 episodes of Netflix’s Easy, he’s directed in TV for HBO, 20th Century Fox, and Netflix. He co-wrote and produced Dave Franco’s directorial debut, The Rental.