Hiroshi Shinagawa, Japanese comedian, director, screenwriter, and one-half of the comedy duo “Shinagawa Shoji,” will direct zombie mockumentary feature Among the Dead, Bloody Disgusting has learned. It’s the first screenplay from the freshly-minted father/daughter duo, Andy Cosby and Charlie Danger, collectively known as Midnight Pizza.

This will also be the first project emanating from the co-production and co-financing venture between US-based People of Culture Studios and Japan’s Yoshimoto Kogyo Co.

Among the Dead is an English-language Paranormal Activity-style found footage zombie movie written by esteemed comic book creator, film producer, and screenwriter Andy Cosby (“Hellboy,” “2 Guns” “Eureka”) and Charlie Danger Cosby, along with some help from Brian Caldirola, Patrick Hasson and Juan Carlos Saizarbitoria.

“As the rest of the world finds its equilibrium in the aftermath of an undead apocalypse, one emotionally unstable man abandons friends and family to go live among the few remaining zombies before they’re all gone.”

“In 1968, George Romero brought zombies into the cinematic spotlight with his pivotal horror movie masterpiece, Night of the Living Dead,” said Cosby. “Since then, zombies have become a staple of the film industry, with dozens of movies and even hit television series featuring various heroes and heroines fleeing in terror at the very sight of these gruesome creatures. Now, more than four decades later, Among the Dead documents the first man daring and insane enough to head in the opposite direction…”

Shinagawa comments, “When I turned 40, I set my sights on one ambitious goal – to direct my own independent horror film in Hollywood by age 50. And as life would have it, at age 50, an opportunity fell into my lap that seemed too good to be true. A Hollywood production company approached me about helming a horror film!

“At first, I thought it must be a joke, since we play these kinds of jokes on each other in Japan all the time! However, as I had more discussions and meetings with the team, it started sinking in that the dream I had envisioned for 10 years was finally here. Now, overjoyed and bursting with creative energy, I fully immerse myself in this passion project working closely with Andy and Labid and the process has been nothing short of magical. I will continue to savor every second of this experience all the way to the premiere, in both America and Japan!”

Among the Dead is being produced by Andy Cosby, who serves as Chief Creative Officer of PoC Studios, and Ryoichi Wada, the imaginative co-creator of One Cut of the Dead, on which Cannes 2022 opening night film Final Cut was based. Executive producers are Labid Aziz, who serves as CEO of PoC Studios, and Mike Ikeda.