Forge Films Company launches as Genre Studio with Debut Series Lost in Hel

FORGE FILMS COMPANY has launched as a new international genre studio with a slate of IP that spans science fiction, fantasy and horror film, TV, gaming and immersive experiences. The next-generation studio will act as an IP and franchise incubator, combining distinctive creative voices with early audience validation to identify original worlds, assess their potential from the outset, and de-risk the path toward larger-scale investment and production. Today the team announces the first series from its slate, Lost in Hel.

Founded by experienced producers and media entrepreneurs Antoine Disle, Orso Vesperini and Olivier Compere, the company has appointed Léonidas Vesperini as Head of Gaming & Interactive Experiences. Marc Lorber will work with the FORGE team and consult on industry relations.

FORGE is built around a cross-media approach to genre series and filmmaking, developing IP through proof-of-concept productions, dedicated Fanzones and its own YouTube channel -offering the company and its creative partners early audience response to inform further development and expansion.

Co-Founder Antoine Disle is a producer and media entrepreneur with more than 35 years' experience spanning production, distribution and technological innovation. Disle has produced and developed projects for companies including Canal+, TF1, France Télévisions, Warner, Fox, Sony and Blackpills, and founded Rockzeline, which produced more than 100 series including Game of Death, Skinford and Diversion End. At FORGE, he leads distribution strategy, audience development and the studio's director community.

Co-Founder Orso Vesperini leads FORGE’S strategy, governance and IP development, as well as its international writers' room. His credits include Only Seven Days, The Behemoth, The First Eternal and Obscure. He co-authored the first French science-fantasy role-playing game inspired by Thoan, the universe created by Philip José Farmer. At FORGE, he oversees the structural and strategic development of the company's properties. As Head of FORGE’S international writers’ room, Orso brings together writers and creative talent to develop science-fiction, fantasy and horror film, television, gaming and immersive experiences.

Co-Founder Olivier Compere is a producer and entrepreneur with more than 30 years' experience across film, television, documentary and cultural programming. He founded Cantina Studio in 2001 and has produced for Canal+, M6 and France Télévisions, alongside international productions including X Company. His feature film credits through Cantina Studio include La Vie Pure, directed by Jeremy Banster. Compere is currently producing the second season of the fantasy series Bugarach, following a first season that drew more than 2.5 million views on France.tv Season 2 is scheduled to air on France.tv in early 2027. He is also developing Hikikomori, a six-part, thirty-minute series, and is financing the feature film Le Sang des innocents, starring Laetitia Casta and Alexis Michalik, with principal photography set for June 2027 on Réunion Island. At FORGE, he leads production strategy, financing and operations.

Léonidas Vesperini has been appointed as Head of Gaming & Interactive Experiences at FORGE. Vesperini is a game industry veteran whose credits include tabletop adaptations of Conan, Solomon Kane, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege and Darkest Dungeon. Across his career, projects he has led have collectively raised $40 million through crowdfunding campaigns and subsequent pledge manager contributions. At FORGE, he leads the development of gaming and interactive extensions to the studio’s IP.

Marc Lorber is an Emmy and International Emmy-nominated Executive Producer, appointed as Head of Industry Relations. He spent nearly a decade at Lionsgate Television as Senior Vice President, International TV Co-Productions & Acquisitions, overseeing and executive producing international co-productions across multiple territories. Lorber also served as Senior Vice President at HBO Europe. Recent EP credits include Mixtape, produced by Subotica and Boat Rocker for Foxtel/Binge and the BBC; Blue Murder Motel, produced by Great Southern Television and APC for TVNZ; and Leonard & Hungry Paul, produced by Subotica and Avalon for the BBC.

FORGE’s debut IP Lost in Hel is an epic genre series combining Viking mythology, cosmic horror and a clash of civilisations. Jessica Ferguson (Cobra City, Sun Sparta), Troy Honeysett (Class of ’07, The Combination: Redemption), Masa Yamaguchi (The Condemned, Wolverine) and newcomer Grace Durrant are attached to star. The IP is launching first through Breathe in Hel, a proof-of-concept production designed to showcase the world, test audience response and drive early engagement, as part of FORGE’s wider approach to developing original genre IP.

Set after a Viking clan is shipwrecked on an unmapped island, the Lost in Hel universe follows Jarl Alvar and a Christian queen forced into an alliance as they attempt to unite sworn enemies against an ancient force that threatens them all. The island is a place where time repeats itself, the dead still whisper and escape comes at a price.

The series uses an ensemble, multi-perspective structure, with each episode unfolding through the eyes of a different member of the group, revealing events that alter the audience's perspective of the story. Lost in Hel expands from Breathe in Hel, which serves as the proof of concept for the series and FORGE’s wider approach to developing original genre IP.

Lost in Hel is directed by Australian filmmaker Nik Kacevski, whose background in visual effects and animation includes Mad Max: Fury Road, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Underworld: Blood Wars. His feature credits include Skinford: Death Sentence and Skinford: Chapter Two, and he brings a practical, effects-driven approach to genre filmmaking to the series.

FORGE is developing original productions with a focus on rising directors and distinctive creative voices. Its content is rooted in physical locations, live-action performances and practical filmmaking, while using AI selectively as a creative tool rather than as a replacement for traditional production.

Antoine Disle, Orso Vesperini and Olivier Compere, Co-Founders at FORGE FILMS COMPANY, said: 'FORGE is built to identify distinctive creative talent and original IP early, test their potential with audiences, and give the strongest worlds the opportunity to grow across film, television, gaming and immersive experiences. Our model brings together creative ambition, audience engagement and industry expertise within a commercially viable and sustainable framework.

'As AI transforms many aspects of the creative industries, we believe distinctive human voices, authentic creative instincts and strong directorial identities will become even more valuable. Our mission is to give rising filmmakers the opportunity to build original worlds capable of surprising audiences, with a commercially viable and sustainable model designed to reduce risk and better align the interests of creative talent, industry partners and investors'.

 

LC