Global Digital Releasing has picked up the release rights to a new film by media personality Anderson Cowan.

Titled “Groupers”, the topical dark comedy tells of a grad student who kidnaps two homophobic high-school bullies to use as her subjects in an experiment performed at the bottom of an empty swimming pool.

“I knew early on in the writing process that I was stepping into some pretty turbulent waters”, writer/director Cowan said in a recent interview. “Some of my closest friends and a number of people who either worked on the film or helped fund it are gay. I passed a number of things by these individuals before we shot a single frame. Definitely got some valuable guidance on a couple of lines here and there and as a result I’m both comfortable and confident that we won’t be offending any of the wrong people. Offending people is part of the plan for Groupers, but it’s got to be the right people and I think we’ve done our job on that front.”

High school jocks Brad and Dylan (Peter Mayer-Klepchick and Cameron Duckett) are out for a night on the town when they are approached by the beautiful and seductive Meg (Nicole Dambro) at a local bar.  Ready for what they hope will be a night to remember, the guys are subsequently kidnapped, drugged and awaken tied up face to face in an abandoned pool in the middle of nowhere. Absurdity and insanity ensue as we learn that Orin (Jesse Pudles), Meg’s overly flamboyant brother has been the target of Brad and Dylan’s homophobic bullying and that Meg is actually a grad student who plans to perform a psychological and somewhat sadistic experiment on them as part of her thesis, which poses the question, “is homosexuality a choice”.

“This is an important film”, stated Global Digital Releasing President Joe Dain. “Homophobia has always been an issue in our society but with the current administration and the potential roll backs of LGBTQ protections in this country, it’s not only timely but Anderson effectively tackles the subject matter in a dark, humorous, yet thought provoking and entertaining way that we believe will resonate with audiences and we wanted to give it the opportunity to garner the attention we feel it deserves.”

The film is set to open in Los Angeles on Friday, September 27th at the Laemmle Music Hall theater and will expand into additional markets on October 1st. The distributor plans to submit the film to the GLADD Media and Spirit Awards for consideration.

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/embed/OjsmgupdU90