King Cohen is the true story of writer, producer, director, creator and all-around maverick, Larry Cohen. Cohen, as well as Joe Dante (Gremlins) and Michael Moriarty (The Stuff), discuss the filmmaker’s use of special effects in the 1982 classic Q: The Winged Serpent.
Larry Cohen is best known for Black Caesar, It’s Alive, Q: The Winged Serpent and The Stuff. He was also a major player in the Blaxploitation films of the 1970s as well as a prominent Hollywood screenwriter (Phone Booth).
The film features interviews with such industry luminaries as Martin Scorsese, J.J Abrams, Joe Dante, Mick Garris, John Landis, Fred Williamson as well as Cohen himself. Cohen’s remarkable one-of-a-kind career, from 60s TV series creator (Branded, The Invaders), to 70s and 80’s independent film icon and beyond, is chronicled with freewheeling and insightful verve.
Winner of the 2017 Fantasia Fest Best Documentary Feature Audience Award, King Cohen hails from Rondo Award-winning writer/director Steve Mitchell, whose film and television credits include co-writing the beloved cult horror/comedy Chopping Mall. King Cohen is a La-La Land Entertainment production, in association with Big And Tall Pictures and Off The Cliff Productions. It is directed and produced by Steve Mitchell and produced by Matt Verboys and Dan McKeon.
King Cohen (Dark Star Pictures) began its theatrical run July 20 in markets including Los Angeles. The film is scheduled for release in New York on August 3, 2018. Special event screenings of the film will also be held throughout July and August in cities including Asheville, Va., and Yonkers, N.Y.