When The Divide opens tonight in Houston it’s but the second film produced by Ross Dinerstein opening today at midnight. In addition to The Divide (playing midnight this weekend at the River Oaks Three) Dinerstein will be premiering The Pact as a midnight movie at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

While The Divide, a post apocalyptic thriller, and The Pact a modern tale of ghostly horror adapted from director Nicholas McCarthy’s short by the same title, skew traditional genre conventions Dinerstein tells Free Press Houston that his credits include mainstream titles as well, like Powder Blue (2008) and the poker tournament comedy The Grand (2007). “I’ve had a diverse career,” Dinerstein says in a phone interview.

Dinerstein was born in Houston, grew up in the Piney Point Village area and attended Kinkaid. “I got out of college in Nashville (Vanderbilt University) and headed straight to Hollywood.” Dinerstein rapidly landed a job with Miramax in their acquisitions department. “I told them that I’d been reading every issue of Variety while in school. I was working on the best indie films, they received something like 17 award nominations the first year I worked there” After a prolific decade in the film industry Dinerstein offers sage wisdom to neophyte filmmakers.

“Make sure your movie has a universal theme,” Dinerstein advises. “At the end of the day how does your audience relate to your movie?”

The Divide took Dinerstein two years to get made. The Divide revolves around nine strangers who’ve come together in a basement after an ambiguous nuclear attack. “It’s a post-apocalyptic Lord of the Flies,” adds Dinerstein. “It’s a contained thriller that we take to the next level.”

Indeed, The Divide examines isolation as the survivors barricade themselves inside their bunker. Before long mysterious soldiers wearing hazmat suits invade their sanctuary. After repelling these invaders the group starts to dwindle and eventually human barriers break down into barbarism. Michael Biehn and Lauren German star, direction by Xavier Gens and special make-up effects by Stephen Kostanski.

- Michael Bergeron