Breakout Indie Director Signs Multi-Film Deal with Boutique Studio
Deal underscores resurgent appetite for auteur-driven features as indie market rebounds
LOS ANGELES – November 19, 2025– Emerging writer-director Talia Rae—whose micro-budget thriller Dry River swept South by Southwest (SXSW) in March—has closed a three-picture pact with Los Angeles-based boutique banner Orion’s Belt Media, the companies announced Tuesday. The pact gives the studio first-look rights to Rae’s next two narrative features and one documentary project, with production slated to begin in Q2 2026.
Financing details were not disclosed, but people familiar with the agreement pegged the combined production commitments between US $8 million and US $10 million, making it one of the largest indie talent deals struck after a festival debut this year. The arrangement also grants Rae final cut, a rarity for first-time filmmakers outside the studio system.
“Talia’s voice is precisely what today’s fragmented audiences are craving—specific, regional and unapologetically cinematic,” Orion’s Belt CEO Maya Chung said. “We built our slate on filmmakers who can deliver cultural impact without franchise price tags; locking Talia for multiple cycles de-risks our pipeline and signals to investors that disciplined storytelling still travels.”
The indie sector is showing fresh momentum after a two-year slump. According to a 2025 Sundance Institute market snapshot, 42 domestic feature deals were closed within 60 days of this year’s festival, up 68 % from 2024 and the fastest deal velocity since pre-pandemic 2019 . Buyers attribute the uptick to lower acquisition costs—median upfront advances dropped to US $1.7 million, 30 % below 2022 levels—and streamers’ renewed appetite for prestige originals as they pivot from volume to margin.
“We’re past the ‘eight-figure bidding wars’ era, but disciplined capital is flowing back to proven creators,” said Stephen Garrett, head of scripted at management firm AGC.“Multi-picture pacts let boutiques aggregate IP, while filmmakers gain continuity of crew and creative control—something the legacy studios rarely cede.”
Rae, 29, shot Dry River for US $275,000 in her hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, recruiting locals as cast and crew. The film’s 97-minute runtime contains only 93 lines of dialogue; instead, Rae relies on sound design and long takes to chronicle a drought-stricken farming family pushed toward crime. After winning both the SXSW Adam Yauch Hörnblower Award and the Louisiana Film Prize, the picture sold to MUBI for North America and multiple European territories, grossing an estimated US $3.4 million worldwide—an 11× production return tracked by industry data firm The Numbers.
Under the Orion’s Belt agreement, Rae will relocate to Los Angeles but continue to shoot in the South. Her next project, Saltwater Saints, follows two estranged sisters rebuilding a hurricane-ravaged oyster farm while evading a predigious real-estate conglomerate. Casting is underway, with Barry Jenkins’ Pastel partner Adele Romanski executive-producing. The budget is capped at US $3.5 million, qualifying the film for the Georgia and Louisiana transferable tax credits, which combined can cover up to 40 % of qualified spend.
Orion’s Belt, launched in 2021 by former A24 executives Chung and David Reeves, focuses on features budgeted under US $10 million with global presale potential. The company’s 2024 slate—psychological horror Cicada and immigrant drama Golden Gate—generated US $18 million in theatrical revenue and US $31 million in streaming licensing fees on combined production costs of US $9.2 million, according to corporate filings. Investors include Sovereign Capital, Hudson Bay Media Fund and CJ ENM’s U.S. division.
“Our model is simple: keep budgets lean, retain worldwide rights, and back directors who can deliver festival pedigree plus commercial hooks,” Chung said. “Talia checks every box; we expect Saltwater Saints to mirror Dry River’s ROI and further validate our micro-budget thesis.”
Rae is repped by UTA, Mosaic and attorney Greggory C. Durkin. Orion’s Belt’s legal team was led by Loeb & Loeb.
About Orion’s Belt Media
Orion’s Belt Media is a Los Angeles-based production and distribution company specializing in elevated genre and auteur-driven films budgeted under US $10 million. Since 2021 the studio has produced or co-financed 11 features, with titles premiering at Sundance, Cannes, SXSW and Toronto. Investors include Sovereign Capital, Hudson Bay Media Fund and CJ ENM America.
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