WARNER BROS. TAPS TREVOR CAWOOD TO DIRECT THRILLER ‘THE KARMA COALITION’ (EXCLUSIVE)

The move sets into motion a project that Warners picked up in 2008, plunking down $750,000 against $1. 5 million for the spec by rocker-by-day/scribe-by-night Shawn Christensen.

Trevor Cawood is in negotiations to direct The Karma Coalition, a thriller being produced by Lin Pictures at Warner Bros. The move sets into motion a project that Warners picked up in 2008, plunking down $750,000 against $1. 5 million for the spec by rocker-by-day/scribe-by-night Shawn Christensen.

The story centers on a professor who engages in a game of cat and mouse with a corrupt detective after he’s told his dead wife of five years might still be alive. He uncovers the existence of a secret organization responsible for faking her death but suffers the consequences of that knowledge. Lin Pictures’ Jon Silk and Mark Bauch are co-producing.

Cawood, repped by WME and Anonymous Content, is a Canadian helmer who is a co-owner the visual effects house the Embassy, which has worked on movies such as Cowboys & Aliens and District 9.

Cawood made a name for himself with his shorts and commercials. One that caught Hollywood’s eye was an arty and unique film titled Terminus and featured a man haunted and followed by an inner representation, a stone figure. Among his commercials are a spot for Clone Wars, featuring two droids at a skate park, and a spot for Citroen, featuring a car transforming into a running robot.

His work is marked for the way it uses real settings and brings inanimate objects to life.

Karma will be Cawood’s directorial debut.

Jesse Ehrman and Andy Fischel is overseeing for the studio.