‘The Conjuring’ Writers Join Night Market Studios as Executive Producers on Asian Genre Slate (EXCLUSIVE)

Third Culture Content has unveiled Night Market Studios, a Singapore-anchored genre label, with “The Conjuring” writers Chad Hayes and Carey Hayes joining as executive producers as the company brings a four-film debut slate to the Cannes Film Market.

Wholly owned by Third Culture Content, the production company co-founded by Janice Chua and Sean Dulake, Night Market will concentrate on elevated horror, thriller and action-comedy drawing on Asian settings and mythologies, with franchise scalability and remake potential as central commercial aims.

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The debut slate includes “The Damned,” directed by Oscar-nominated Bhutanese filmmaker Pawo Choyning Dorji (“Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom”) and executive produced by Hayes and Hayes. Written by Michael Tay and Karl Gan, the horror pic follows a desperate expectant father who agrees to serve as a human vessel in a forbidden Taoist ritual, only to unleash a force from the underworld that drives him to reunite with his estranged mother — a Taoist medium — to confront a rogue priest before the curse consumes them both.

Indonesia’s Angga Dwimas Sasongko (“Stealing Raden Saleh,” “Jumbo”) is attached to helm “Coverband Heist,” a Jakarta-set action-comedy following five musicians who attempt a heist during an exclusive hotel event. Sasongko’s studio Visinema Pictures comes aboard as producing partner.

Director Marie Jamora (“What Isn’t There”) is set to direct “Imprint” from a script by Charlene Sawit-Esguerra, with Tan Si En of Momo Film Co. and Anderson Le of East Films as producing partners. Actor Liza Soberano, set to appear in DreamWorks’ upcoming “Forgotten Island,” is attached as executive producer. The supernatural thriller follows a Filipino-American woman who returns to the Philippines after her father’s murder and discovers a psychic ability she must use to track a serial killer moving between the physical and spirit worlds.

Rounding out the slate is “The Curse of Bali,” a romantic horror-comedy with BH Entertainment as producing partner and a director yet to be announced. The film tracks three couples celebrating an engagement who antagonize a real Balinese superstition said to doom relationships, setting off a chain of fractures, suspicion and increasingly bizarre encounters.

Chua and Dulake said: “We’ve always believed that some of the most cinematic and emotionally charged genre stories in the world are coming out of Asia. Right now, audiences are increasingly seeking stories that feel distinct, surprising and authentic. Night Market is our way of bringing together acclaimed genre story tellers Chad and Carey Hayes, bold regional voices and commercially ambitious storytelling under one banner.”

Chad and Carey Hayes’ writing and producing credits include “The Conjuring,” “The Conjuring 2,” “The Reaping,” “The Crucifixion,” “The Turning” and a remake of “House of Wax.”

“We’ve long believed that genre transcends language and borders, when it’s grounded in authentic culture, mythology and human emotion. What drew us to Night Market Studios was its commitment to filmmaker-driven stories that feel both deeply rooted and globally cinematic. There’s an exciting wave of bold genre storytelling emerging from Asia right now, and we’re thrilled to collaborate with Janice, Sean and these filmmakers to help bring these stories to international audiences,” Chad and Carey Hayes said.

Third Culture Content operates across Los Angeles, Singapore and Seoul. Chua previously served as VP of the international division at Imagine Entertainment and was a producer on “Crazy Rich Asians,” with earlier posts at Ivanhoe Pictures and Beijing Galloping Horse, where she oversaw international co-productions including John Woo’s “The Crossing.” Dulake produced and starred in “Dramaworld,” the English-Korean language fantasy romantic comedy that premiered on Netflix worldwide and won best foreign drama of the year at the Seoul International Drama Awards.