The movie industry has lost another talented contributor to motion picture conservation: Sage Stallone, eldest son of Sylvester, died today at the age of 36. Sage co-starred with his father in ROCKY V and DAYLIGHT. He left acting to pursue film distribution as he co-founded Grindhouse Releasing in 1996, with his partner, Oscar winning editor Bob Murawski (The Hurt Locker).

Together, they brought rare and shocking exploitation films to North America. Films like CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, GONE WITH THE POPE (which played at the Mayfair a few months back) Lucio Fulci’s THE BEYOND, the Spanish splatter film PIECES among others, got theatrical re-releases and deluxe DVD treatments via their company. Grindhouse also distributed CANNIBAL FEROX, which will play at the Mayfair this August.

In 2006, Sage directed a short film entitled VIC, which won him the Best New Filmmaker Award at the Boston Film Festival.

Sage’s close friend, musician Jeffrey Mitchell, said of Sage, “Sage was a dear friend and the kindest of person one could ever meet…he was the real thing.”