An award-winning director and visual effects wizard, Konstantinos has over 15 years of international experience. Based in the UK, Greece, and Toronto, as a VFX artist and supervisor he’s worked on dozens of high-end visuals for projects like Guillermo del Toro’s CABINET OF CURIOSITIES and NIGHTMARE ALLEY, WEST SIDE STORY, 1917, THE OLD GUARD, X-MEN, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and 300, as well as a number of commercials for clients Saatchi & Saatchi, Burberry, Versace and more. 

MINORE is Konstantinos’ third feature film as a director, following his award-winning films  THE FEAR OF LOOKING UP and THE WINTER.  Recently he directed GOD’S SOLDIERS, a 2-part 60-minute historic documentary series on the Siege of Malta for PBS / Discovery Channel.

When mysterious creatures invade a Greek seaside port, a misfit band of musicians, tourists, bodybuilders and grannies unite to save the city in this quirky action comedy. Blending the enthusiastic (if somewhat uncommon) combination of fantasy cinema, Greek folklore, a dose of black humour and stirring rebetiko music (a musical genre that best expresses Greek identity, individuality, and passion), MINORE is a light-hearted metaphor for Greeks working together to face the existential and the very real crises we are facing in the world today. Whether it’s a fearsome viral plague or economic catastrophe when monsters appear in our midst and seek to destroy the fabric of reality and our way of life: the only to keep our sanity is to live in the moment and dance our fears away.

Watching films in the open-air cinema on the beach in the summertime is my fondest memory from growing up in Greece. While my parents ran their shop in a little seaside tourist town, I loved escaping into that world of big monster movies and weird science fiction films.

Despite our rich Greek heritage of mythology, superstitions, and ancient monsters, there is almost a complete absence of adventure and creature films coming from Greece, (with the notable exception of P. Koutras’ fabulous camp comedy “The Attack of the Giant Mousaka.”) With MINORE I hope to change that!  

Working in minute detail on films by Guillermo Del Toro, Sam Mendes, and Steven Spielberg, not only have I found their vision inspiration, I know in-depth what it takes to make high-quality visuals to a Hollywood standard. It’s my mission to take everything I’ve learned working on these studio films and use it to shine a light on the special kind of stories that come from my heritage back in Greece.

DIRECTING/PRODUCING

MINORE 2022 Director  111’  Horror Comedy

Inkas Films | Melancholy Star | ERT | EKK | EKOME

GODS SOLDIERS  2021 Director / Cinematographer  2 x 52’   Historic Doc

Urban Canyons, Parker Film & TV

THE FEAR OF LOOKING UP 2019  Director / Cinematographer  88’ Thriller

Melancholy Star, Fantaspoa Producoes, Aspect Ratio Films 

THE BOOK OF BIRDIE  2017  Producer / Cinematographer  90’ Thriller, 

Melancholy Star, Fantaspoa Producoes, Reel Suspects

THE WINTER  2014  Director 101’ Drama,

Melancholy Star, Inkas Films

VFX

“Cabinet of Curiosities” Prod. Guillermo Del Toro, Herne Hill, 2022, Senior compositor

“Nightmare Alley” Dir. Guillermo Del Toro, MRX, 2020, Senior compositor 

“Awake” Dir. Mark Raso, MRX, 2020, Senior compositor 

“The Old Guard” Dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood, MRX, 2020, Senior compositor 

“West Side Story” Dir. Steven Spielberg, MPC, 2019, Senior compositor 

“1917” Dir. Sam Mendes, MPC, 2019, Senior compositor 

“The Voyage of Dr. Dolittle” Dir. Stephen Gaghan, MPC, 2019, Senior compositor 

“X-men: Dark Phoenix” Dir. Simon Kinberg, MPC, 2019, Senior compositor 

“Artemis Fowl” Dir. Kenneth Branagh, MPC, 2019, Senior compositor 

“Entwined” Dir. Minos Nikolakakis, Inkas Films, VFX Supervisor

“Guardians of The Galaxy” Dir. James Gunn, MPC, 2014, Nuke compositor

“300 –Rise of an Empire” Dir. Zack Snyder / Noam Murro, MPC, 2013, Nuke compositor

“Nine” Dir. Rob Marshall, Bluff Hampton / Weinstein, 2009, Senior compositor

VFX

WON OSCAR (visual effects) 2020, 1917, MPC, Role: senior compositor

WON BAFTA (visual effects) 73rd British Academy Film Awards, 2020, 1917, MPC, Role: senior compositor

GREEK ACADEMY Nomination (visual effects) 2020, Entwined, Melancholy Star, Role: VFX supervisor

WON BEST FX FKM Festival De Cinema Fantastico Da Coruna, 2018, The Book of Birdie, Melancholy Star, Role: VFX superviso

WON BAA (British Animation Awards) 2010, best music video category, for “Float” / Flogging Molly, Role: technical director, VFX artist

WON ANNECY 2009, best music video category, for “Float” / Flogging Molly, Role: technical director, VFX artist

MELIES D' ARGENT Nomination 2006, Gamerz, Pure Magic Films, Role: Lead 3d artist

FILMMAKING

WON BEST SUPERNATURAL THRILLER Miami SciF Int, 2020, The Fear of Looking Up, Melancholy Star, Role: Director

WON BEST FEATURE Hell De Janeiro, 2019, The Fear of Looking Up, Melancholy Star, Role: Director

WON BEST FEATURE Stranger with my Face, 2017, The Book of Birdie, Melancholy Star, Role: Producer

WON BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Brooklyn Int. Horror Film Festival, 2017, The Book of Birdie, Melancholy Star, Role: Cinematographer

WON NOSTIMON IMAR Cyprus Int. Film Festival, 2015, The Winter, Melancholy Star, Role: Director

GOLDEN APHRODITE Nomination Cyprus Int. Film Festival, 2015, The Winter, Melancholy Star, Role: Director

MELIES D' ARGENT Nomination Imagine Film Festival, 2015, The Winter, Melancholy Star, Role: Director

SCOTTISH BAFTA Nomination for personal student film “Celephais

Managing Director and major shareholder of INKAS FILMS in Athens, Lilette Botassi studied History of Art in France and has over 25 years of experience in film production. She has worked as a Production Manager, Location Manager and Line Producer in more than 40 international feature films that were shot in Greece.

Lilette Botassi participated in the EUROPEAN FILM PROMOTION, PRODUCERS ON THE MOVE, held during the 54th Cannes Film Festival as the Greek representative. Since 2001, she has been a member of the EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY (EFA), the INDEPENDENT GREEK PRODUCER’S ASSOCIATION (SAPOE) since 2002 and the HELLENIC FILM ACADEMY since 2010.  

Inkas Film Productions is a production company operating from Halandri, Athens, holding a dynamic role in the national and international film market. With many years of experience and a variety of programs to showcase, we are always there to assist you in the best possible way for your project quality needs with a network of experienced production professionals next to talented artistic and technical experts. Founded in 1997, since then the company has produced and co-produced National and International Feature Films, Short Films and Documentaries.

In addition to winning awards and gaining international distribution, many of the projects gained MEDIA and EURIMAGES support and successfully participated in major international film festivals (Cannes, Berlin, Montreal, Mannheim, Antalya).

INKAS has trained students from both Media Training (Rome) and Leonardo Da Vinci II (Spain) programmes. In 2004, they organized Athens-based workshops for EAVE (European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs) focusing on professional training, project development and networking organization for audiovisual producers, in partnership with SAPOE (Association of Greek Independent Audiovisual Producers).

MELANCHOLY STAR is a London and Greece-based production studio specialising in beautiful VFX and film art, and crafting unique feature films. Headed by husband and wife team, Konstantinos Koutsoliotas and Elizabeth E. Schuch, Melancholy Star represents over 15 years of artistic collaboration, as well as their independent experience in the international film art and the visual effects industry. 

Working with clients like the BBC, Discovery Channel, History Channel, Ridley Scott Associates, Warner Bros, TED Talks, and many more, Melancholy Star has created visuals for projects ranging from traditional media such as features films, TV documentaries, titles, music videos and theatre, to newer technologies for immersive media, 3D/IMAX, live projection, 5D Fly Rides and the MSG Sphere.

Creating films that combine high-quality visuals with a quirky individuality is their passion. 

MINORE is the 4th feature they’ve devised together, after the first self-funded production THE WINTER (Ο ΧΕΙΜΩΝΑΣ, also filmed in Greece.  THE BOOK OF BIRDIE followed, a  triple F-rated indie film which garnered numerous awards, played at international festivals (Goteborg International, Sitges, Fantaspoa) and sparked conversation around religion, feminism and taboo. The duo recently co-directed GOD’S SOLDIERS, a 2-part, 60-minute historic documentary series on the Siege of Malta for PBS / Discovery Channel.

PRODUCER - LILETTE BOTASSI

PRODUCER - DIMITRIS HATZIVOGIATZIS

CO-PRODUCERS, SCREENPLAY BY - KONSTANTINOS KOUTSOLIOTAS & ELIZABETH E. SCHUCH

VFX & EDIT - MELANCHOLY STAR

SPECIAL EFFECTS - PROKOPIS VLASEROS

SPECIAL EFFECTS ARTIST - MARIA STAIKOU

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY - DIMITRIS STAMPOLIS

PRODUCTION DESIGNER - ELIZABETH E. SCHUCH

ORIGINAL MUSIC - GIANNIS ZOUGANELIS

FILM COMPOSER - DAVID KEMP

SOUND RECORDIST- YORGOS POTAGAS

COSTUME DESIGNER - MARIA MAGGIRA

MAKE-UP ARTIST - VICKY TATAKI

MAKE-UP - IRINI MANTZIOU

PRODUCTION MANAGER - PETROS KONTOS

FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR - IRINI KARAGIOZIDOU

CONTINUITY - YANNIS POTHOS

PROPS MASTER - ELIAS DAKOVANOS

FOCUS PULLER - DIMITRIS MANOUSIAKIS

MINORE was filmed in 25 day under Covid regulations in the summer of 2021 in and around Athens, Greece.

FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM

The talented Prokopis Vlaseros and Make-Up Artist Maria Staikou headed up a tour-de-force of practical gore effects on set in Athens, including gelatinous corpses, severed heads, and tentacles galore.

Prokopis Vlaseros was born in Athens in 1984. He showed a great interest in art from an early age and became fascinated by horror and sci-fi films. While he was studying architecture at the University La Sapienza of Rome, he was experimenting with the materials and the various techniques of special makeup effects.

In 2007 he was accepted as a student by the pioneer and father of special effects, Dick Smith (The Exorcist, Godfather, Taxi Driver etc.) who awarded him with the Certificate of Make-Up Effects Artistry. In 2008, Mr. Vlaseros founded the Prokopis Vlaseros’ Special Effects Studio (Disturbed Twins UC) and began his career

in cinema, theatre and television. He and his expert staff will cater to your every need from the initial design to the final application on set, including the material achievement of the processes needed, as well as their implementation.

Prokopis Vlaseros’ Special Effects Studio strives for excellence and he can and will find solutions to any request, guaranteeing impeccable results.

FANTASPOA PRODUCOES, headed by João Pedro Fleck, was founded in 2014. Since then, the company has completed 10 feature films, co-producing in Brazil, Argentina and the United States.

Having worked closely with MELANCHOLY STAR on their film THE BOOK OF BIRDIE, MINORE represents their fourth film collaboration. FANTASPOA PRODUCOES is the production arm of the renowned FANTASPOA Porto Alegre’s Fantastic Film Festival, a festival dedicated to fantastic-themed films (covering fantasy, science-fiction, horror and thriller genres). It was a pioneer in Brazil as a fantastic festival and one of its main objectives is to offer a truly differentiated program to the public.

Taking place annually since 2005, throughout its existence, it acquired international recognition and prestige from critics and audiences. Fantaspoa is the first Latin American representative to join the Mèliés Federation. Always with a curatorial focus, the extensive and varied programming of Fantaspoa covers more than 100 films from around the world; training courses; a free traveling show in public schools; FantasMercado, an event to promote film production; with international guests turning Porto Alegre into the world focus of fantastic cinema every year.

THE FEAR OF LOOKING UP Sci-Fi/Fantasy 90’ USA 2019

THE BOOK OF BIRDIE Fantasy/Drama 90’ UK 2016

SKULL: THE MASK Horror/Fantasy 90’ BRAZIL 2019

DEODATO HOLOCAUST Horror 90’ BRAZIL 2019

KYPTONITA Horror/Fantasy 90’ BRAZIL 2015

In development:

REMANENCE Sci-fi/Horror 90’ BRAZIL