Mark Sandell: Trinity Films co-director and the BBFC Bunny Game standoff

Overview

Mark Sandell is the co-director of Trinity Films (trading as Trinity Entertainment / Trinity Filmed Entertainment), the London-based independent film distributor whose genre arm Trinity X acquired Adam Rehmeier’s controversial horror film The Bunny Game (ScreenDaily). He entered the public record in October 2011, when the British Board of Film Classification refused the film a certificate and Sandell responded that an outright ban gave it “a twisted notoriety that, quite frankly, it doesn’t warrant” (ScreenDaily; BBFC).

Beyond that episode, Sandell is documented as an executive producer on A Liar’s Autobiography, the 2012 Monty Python/Graham Chapman animated feature that Trinity co-financed and distributed in the United Kingdom (ScreenDaily).

Trinity Films and the Trinity X label

Sandell is consistently identified in the trade press as co-director of Trinity, the independent distributor behind both Trinity Entertainment’s mainstream slate and the harder-edged Trinity X imprint. Trinity X was announced in early 2011 with a clear mission statement from Sandell: it would take on “much more risk-taking projects that may not sit very easily with exhibitors,” films that would “still carry the Trinity brand of originality and vision” but could “challenge the distribution norms and traditional windows” (ScreenDaily). The imprint launched with Simon Rumley’s psycho-sexual thriller Red White & Blue, starring Noah Taylor, Amanda Fuller and Marc Senter, acquired from Celluloid Nightmares — a deal Sandell personally negotiated with its founders Nate Bolotin and Aram Tertzakian (ScreenDaily; Love Horror). Director Rumley publicly endorsed the arrangement, saying Trinity had “constantly shown itself to be a company which isn’t afraid to pick up challenging material” (ScreenDaily). Trinity X was positioned as a home for provocative independent cinema, not exploitation — a distinction Sandell was careful to draw from the start (ScreenDaily).

The Bunny Game acquisition and the BBFC refusal

Trinity’s second major Trinity X acquisition was The Bunny Game, Adam Rehmeier’s black-and-white horror film starring Rodleen Getsic as a drug-addicted prostitute kidnapped by a truck driver (Jeff Renfro), which Trinity announced in June 2011 for release through Trinity X in early 2012 (Bloody Disgusting). Sandell said that although the film was “acquired viewing and deals with disturbing issues,” it fit the Trinity X brand as “distinctive and independent film-making at its best, with strong performances and a highly original filmic eye” (Bloody Disgusting). The BBFC then refused the film a certificate, judging that its emphasis on the woman’s nudity eroticised the abuse and that its stylistic treatment could encourage viewers to share the man’s callousness — a harm test failure under the Video Recordings Act even at the adults-only 18 category (BBFC). Sandell’s response was the episode’s most-quoted industry reaction: the company found the decision “disappointing, worrying and sad”; he said Trinity had expected the BBFC might ask for cuts, but that “an outright ban gives the film a twisted notoriety that, quite frankly, it doesn’t warrant” (ScreenDaily; Love Horror). Trinity said it was “considering its options” (ScreenDaily). The ban’s timing was brutal for the young label: Trinity X had three further titles planned for early 2012 (Love Horror), which means its flagship genre acquisition became unsellable in the UK before the imprint’s catalogue had even formed.

A Liar’s Autobiography and the Monty Python deal

Sandell’s other documented credit is as executive producer on A Liar’s Autobiography, the animated feature based on the memoir of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman, which reunited members of the Python troupe for a project produced and directed by Bill Jones, Ben Timlett and Jeff Simpson of London’s Bill and Ben Productions (ScreenDaily). London-based Trinity not only distributed the film in UK cinemas (scheduled for spring 2012) but co-financed it alongside EPIX, which premiered it on television under its EPIX Pictures banner, and Brainstorm Media, whose Meyer Shwarzstein distributed it in the United States (ScreenDaily). Sandell said Trinity was “immensely proud” to be involved “working not only alongside the Pythons, but also with EPIX, Bill and Ben Productions and Brainstorm Media” (ScreenDaily). The credit shows the other half of Trinity’s business: not just boundary-pushing genre distribution but co-financed, mainstream-audience releases built on established British comedy brands (ScreenDaily).

Mark Sandell’s documented Trinity Films work

Film / project	Sandell’s documented role	Period	Trinity label
Red White & Blue (Simon Rumley)	Co-director announcing the launch title; personally negotiated the deal	2011	Trinity X (launch)
The Bunny Game (Adam Rehmeier)	Co-director acquiring UK rights; public respondent to the BBFC refusal	2011	Trinity X
A Liar’s Autobiography (Bill Jones, Ben Timlett, Jeff Simpson)	Executive producer	2011–12	Trinity Entertainment (main slate)

Frequently asked questions

Who is Mark Sandell? Mark Sandell is the co-director of Trinity Films (trading as Trinity Entertainment), a London-based independent film distributor. He is documented in the industry trade press as the public face of the company’s Trinity X genre label and as an executive producer on its co-financed releases. No verified source gives biographical details beyond his professional role, so this profile covers only his documented industry activity.

What did Mark Sandell say about the BBFC banning The Bunny Game? He called the BBFC’s decision “disappointing, worrying and sad,” said Trinity had expected possible cuts but not an outright ban, and argued that the ban gave the film “a twisted notoriety that, quite frankly, it doesn’t warrant.” His October 2011 statement, reported by ScreenDaily, became the most-quoted distributor reaction to the refusal.

What is Trinity X? Trinity X was the “X-rated” genre distribution arm of Trinity Entertainment, announced in 2011. Sandell described it as a home for risk-taking projects that “may not sit very easily with exhibitors” — original and provocative, but explicitly not exploitation. It launched with Simon Rumley’s Red White & Blue, followed by the ill-fated acquisition of The Bunny Game.

Was Mark Sandell involved with the Monty Python animated film A Liar’s Autobiography? Yes — as executive producer. Trinity co-financed and distributed the 2012 Graham Chapman animated feature in UK cinemas, working alongside EPIX, Bill and Ben Productions, and Brainstorm Media. Sandell publicly described Trinity’s involvement as working “alongside the Pythons” to bring Chapman’s talent back to a global audience.

Timeline

• 2011 (Feb) — Trinity Entertainment announces the Trinity X label with Red White & Blue as its launch title; Mark Sandell identified as co-director of Trinity Films (ScreenDaily).
• 2011 (Jun) — Trinity acquires UK rights to Adam Rehmeier’s The Bunny Game for Trinity X; Sandell praises its “highly original filmic eye” (Bloody Disgusting).
• 2011 (Jul) — Trinity co-finances and takes UK distribution of A Liar’s Autobiography; Sandell credited as executive producer (ScreenDaily).
• 2011 (Oct) — The BBFC refuses The Bunny Game a certificate; Sandell’s “twisted notoriety” statement and Trinity’s “considering its options” (ScreenDaily; BBFC).

What we could not verify

• Whether Trinity acquired The Bunny Game in January 2011 (as the profile brief asserted), at Cannes in May 2011 (per ScreenDaily and Love Horror), or only announced it in June 2011 (per Bloody Disgusting). The timing is left open rather than asserted.
• Whether Trinity ever resubmitted a re-cut The Bunny Game or released it in the UK by another route after the refusal; later accounts note the film eventually found UK distribution, but this pass did not verify Trinity’s role in that.
• Any biographical facts about Sandell himself — birth date, background, prior career, or current status — appear in no verified source consulted, so none are claimed.
• Trinity’s post-2012 catalogue and Sandell’s later activity were outside this pass’s scope and are not asserted.

Sources

• British Board of Film Classification — The Bunny Game case page (tier1; the refusal statement)
• ScreenDaily — BBFC bans Adam Rehmeier’s The Bunny Game (tier2; Sandell’s role, ban reaction, “considering its options”)
• Bloody Disgusting — UK Outfit Trinity Nabs Hyper Horror ‘The Bunny Game’! (tier2; acquisition announcement, Sandell’s statement)
• ScreenDaily — Trinity X label starts with Red, White and Blue (tier2; Trinity X launch, Sandell’s mission statement)
• ScreenDaily — Trinity to distribute, co-finance Graham Chapman project (tier2; A Liar’s Autobiography, executive producer credit)
• Love Horror — BBFC ban’s THE BUNNY GAME (tier3; reaction corroboration, early-2012 slate)