XYZ Films has hired former 87North and Studio 8 executive Guy Danella as its President of Film.
The company has said Danella will be tasked with acquiring and producing a slate of high-end genre films geared for the theatrical market.
Danella was most recently an executive at David Leitch’s 87North Films, where he produced such films as Universal’s Violent Night, Love Hurts starring Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan, and The Trip directed by Jorma Taccone and starring Jason Segel, Samara Weaving, Timothy Olyphant, and Juliette Lewis.The Trip is a remake of the Norwegian film I Onde Dager and is currently in post-production. XYZ films financed both I Onde Dager and the remake.
Before that, Danella was a partner at Jeff Robinov’s Studio 8, working on titles such as Apple’s Instigators, Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu, and Robert Rodriguez’s Hypnotic. He also served as the SVP of Production at Simon Kinberg’s Genre Films and EVP of Production for Gold Circle Entertainment, the company behind the Pitch Perfect franchise.
“Guy has been a friend and collaborator for over a decade. His taste and keen eye for talent in the genre space make him a perfect fit to further elevate our production slate,” the company said in a statement.
Danella added: “XYZ has continually broken ground across all genres with filmmakers across the globe and have made some of my favorite films over the last decade plus. I am excited to have the opportunity to push the XYZ brand even further, cementing it as a destination for filmmakers to do their best work.”
