‘The Vampire Diaries’ Star Paul Wesley, Director Dekel Berenson Set Up Three Color Films (EXCLUSIVE)

By Stewart Clarke

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – “The Vampire Diaries” and “Tell Me a Story” star Paul Wesley has teamed with award-winning helmer Dekel Berenson to create features and shorts under their new banner, Three Color Films. The pair are already working on their first short, “Abel,” shot in Yosemite, which turns on a father and son bonding over a shared sense of loss.

They plan to build a slate spanning shorts and features. One early project, set to be pitched to digital platforms, is an international short-form multi-part feature that would have Berenson’s shorts “Anna” and “Ashmina” as the first installments. “” played in the Shorts Film Competition at Cannes this year and is shortlisted for a BAFTA. Berenson and the film’s producer, Merlin Merton, picked up the award for best short at the British Independent Film Awards earlier this month. “Ashmina” premiered at the London Film Festival.

Wesley is an internationally recognized face on screen and has also been writing, producing and directing. He already has a deal with Aaron Kaplan for TV projects. “I watched Dekel’s work and was struck by his unique voice and eye for visual storytelling,” he told Variety. “His films feel very intimate with a deep insight into the human character.”

The co-founders are setting out to work up projects with social and political tones under Three Colors, which is based in London and L.A. Berenson’s manager, Anna Różalska from Match&Spark, introduced the director to Wesley in Poland over the summer.

“After sending Paul a few of my scripts, he called me up and suggested we shoot one of them,” Berenson said. “We quickly realized that we had a very similar taste and similar goals in terms of the projects that we wanted to be involved with. With 20 years of experience in the industry, I couldn’t have asked for a better collaborator than Paul.”