Posted by Martina Birk on Thursday, September 26, 2024

With production company Echobend Pictures on board, “The Dirty Oyster” is now officially open.

The Los Angeles-based outfit – also behind upcoming Benedict Cumberbatch starrer “Morning,” “BirdsEye” with “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” breakout Maria Bakalova and “Me, Myself & the Void” – will produce Noah Wagner’s magical realism romance, currently in advanced development. 

“We believe it falls into the rarest of categories: The triple bullseye. It hits the heart, the mind and the soul,” said CEO Zubin Anklesaria. Julia Elaine Mills produces.

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“The Dirty Oyster” is set to be unveiled at Fantasia Film Festival’s Frontières Forum, which runs July 26-28 in Montreal, parallel to the festival.  

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Written by Michael Koehler, “The Dirty Oyster” will follow a jaded investigative journalist who stumbles across a mysterious wooded restaurant. Apparently, eating its oyster bisque will reveal one’s true love. 

“At first glance, it does exude rom-com energy – there is the meet-cute, the serendipity, the suggestion of a happily-ever-after. But there’s also an underbelly to the restaurant, a sense of things being somewhat off,”  Wagner told Variety.

Following shorts “Watch Room,” also written by Koehler, and “Fortissimo,” “The Dirty Oyster” will mark his feature debut. 

“As the night goes on, our characters find themselves tumbling down the rabbit hole into a sort of genre-bending fever dream that blends the tenderness of a romance, the whimsy of a fairytale, the darkness of a horror film and other influences that echo many shades of love.”

Despite its mystical elements, the story is inspired by his own personal experiences, he admitted.

“It has haunted me for nearly 15 years, following a break-up with the first girl I ever loved. For a long time, I thought she might be the one who got away and that made me question whether the idea of ‘the one’ could even be true at all,” he said.

“I’ve since chosen to believe that the fairytale does exist. My writing partner and close friend Michael Koehler, on the other hand, is the pragmatist to my romantic, skeptical of our restaurant’s magical love potion. It’s a dynamic that’s challenged us to hold two opposing ideas at the same time: The magic is real, the magic is an illusion. Maybe both are true.”

The place in question, a “warm and rustic” restaurant, will be breathing new life into a repurposed watermill in the backwoods of Maine, but – as teased by Wagner – there’s more to it than meets the eye. 

“There are disappearing doors, mysterious hallways, shifty sous-chefs and a cranberry bog that’s as deep as an ocean. But it’s the main course that really ratchets up the absurdity,” he enthused. 

“We think of the restaurant as one of our main characters, actually.” 

There’s also the aforementioned journalist who stumbles across it en route to a wedding and an idealistic architect who sought it out despite being engaged. 

“‘The Dirty Oyster’ presents them both with an invitation to examine their assumptions about love and how they might be getting in their own ways.”

The film – “[one that] fuses the philosophical romance of ‘Before Sunrise,’ the whimsical magic of ‘Spirited Away’ and the absurdist fever dream of ‘Alice in Wonderland’,” he adds – is slated to shoot in the fall of 2024.

“Ultimately, it’s an invitation for people to examine their own assumptions about love, whatever they may be. In my case, I think it’s no coincidence that within a few weeks of beginning to write this script, I met the actual love of my life, who I’m excited to marry in just a few short months,” he confided.

“My hope is that ‘The Dirty Oyster’ can help others work through their relationships the same way it has helped me.”

“We all struggle with the universal exploration of ‘finding the one,’ which means it not only carries tremendous depth but also embodies a story with a wide universal appeal. We believe it will be a one-of-a-kind viewing experience when it gets to theaters,” added Anklesaria.  

“It aligns with the phase of life our company is at. A phase defined by growth, self-reflection and understanding.” 

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