Alumni Film 'It Cuts Deep' Picked up for Distribution

By
Felix Van Kann
July 10, 2020

It Cuts Deep, a feature horror-comedy written and directed by alumnus Nicholas Payne Santos '19, produced by Kristy Richman '19, and assistant directed by Rtusha Kulkarni '19, was picked up for North American distribution by Dark Sky Films and is being repped by their parent company MPI at the virtual Cannes Market. The film marks Payne Santos’ directorial debut and will be released in November 2020. 

It Cuts Deep follows a young couple that, while on Christmas vacation, contemplate their future together. Ashley is interested in marriage and kids, which terrifies Sam. But when the handsome and paternal Nolan enters the picture, Sam’s life spirals out of control as Ashley questions their relationship. Chaos reigns as Sam desperately clings to Ashley while fending off the threatening Nolan. 

Nicholas Payne Santos is a filmmaker based out of Brooklyn, NY. Santos was born and raised on Cape Cod, Massachusetts and received his MFA in Film with a concentration in Creative Producing at Columbia University School of the Arts in 2019. He attended undergraduate studies at Ithaca College, where he graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science in Cinema & Photography. The feature Uncle Peckerhead, produced by Payne Santos, will be released in August 2020 by Epic Pictures / Dread Presents.

Kristy Richman is a creative producer, director and content developer with a past in casting, social media and line producing. She was born in Cape May County, NJ, and currently lives and works in New York City. She obtained her MFA in Film and Creative Producing at Columbia University in 2019. Recently, she partnered with Fullscreen to develop her multi-genre fantasy show, TableTalk, which is now streaming on the Fullscreen platform. She is also in the process of developing her short film The Daughter into a short format anthology series.

Rusha Kulkarni is a filmmaker born in India and brought up in Minnesota. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Arts in Film Studies and a minor in Political Science. To date, her producing credits include various short films and independent films, as well as working in development for companies such as Archer Gray and Mana Originals and also interned at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. 

Dark Sky Films is an independent film production and distribution label founded in 2008, working with emerging talent as well as established veterans to develop, package, produce and finance feature films and episodic television projects. Representing films from some of most talented directors working today, such as Ti West’s The House of the Devil and The Innkeepers, and Jim Mickle’s Stake Land, Dark Sky continues to identify original talent and projects to bring a vibrant slate of films to the world market.