Exclusives
OMFG of the Day: Watch the Entire Short ‘Exist’!!
Thanks to technology and the internet, being discovered is much easier than it had been in the past. Anyone with the right training, programs, and talent can create something “special” that gets the right people to take note.
Last week we caught wind of Tyson Johnston’s upcoming short Exist, which stars Curtis Simmons and Alain Singaye as two men who accidentally stand in the middle of the world’s first encounter with extraterrestrial life. While the trailer was a big tease, the poster was absolutely stunning, and the added visual effects demo reel added more fuel to the fire (check it all out here). We were so excited about this project that we got in touch with the young Australian director who provided Bloody Disgusting with the first ever exclusive look at his short film!!! You’ll find the goods inside, along with a little big more on the short, such as the insane budget of $0.
The 19-year-old Johnston was born and raised in Australia before moving to the States at 15. He’s a giant sci-fi fan, UFOlogist, and extraterrestrial fanatic.
He wrote, shot, edited, and cut ‘Exist.’ It was shot on both a Sony EX3, and a Canon 5DMII. The Sony was supplied by supporting actor Curtis Simmons, and the Canon was ownded by Johnston.
“The budget for ‘Exist’ was literally $0. Nothing” Johnston tells us. “A budget that small is never something to brag about, but it’s great to have people backing you to make it work. My cast and crew all woke up with me at 3am, drove to downtown and started shooting. We shot in my lead actors (Alain Singaye) car, we moved on to the Subway and shot that scene extremely quickly, then we moved to the alley way and had a few minutes there. When you’re shooting guerilla, everything has to be fast. If it isn’t you’re gone and you’ll never see the location again.”
He hopes to eventually turn this into a full-length feature: “The plan for ‘Exist’ is simple for us: Raise as much money as we can, then shoot our first independent film!”
Tyson Johnston: Show some love!
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Exclusives
Katharine Isabelle Battles Cosmic Horror in Exclusive ‘Junction Row’ Teaser Trailer [Fantasia 2026]
Among Fantasia 2026‘s massive final wave of programming this morning is Raven Banner’s Lovecraftian creature feature Junction Row, starring Canadian horror icon Katharine Isabelle, and we’re exclusively unveiling the teaser trailer.
Junction Row will celebrate its World Premiere at Fantasia on July 28.
Watch a housing compound fall under siege from Lovecraftian creatures more dangerous than drug dealers in the trailer below.
Junction Row follows “Juno, a recovering addict who leaves a fringe housing compound for a better life, leaving her beloved Ruby behind. When she learns that Ruby has gone missing, Juno returns, only to find Junction Row has become a hotbed of criminal activity, but she encounters much more than menacing drug dealers on her mission to find Ruby.”
Isabelle stars as Juno, with Natalie Brown (FX’s The Strain) as Ruby.
The creature feature marks the feature debut by director Ashlea Wessel, who has directed festival-favorite shorts like 2018’s “Tick” and 2020’s “Weirdo”.
Wessel co-writes Junction Row with Clown in a Cornfield author Adam Cesare and Matt Serafini.
Katharine Isabelle is coming off a brief appearance in Kane Parsons’ Backrooms, and more recently appeared in holiday horror It’s a Wonderful Knife. The horror icon is arguably best known for her turn as the eponymous werewolf in Ginger Snaps and for her roles in American Mary and Freddy vs Jason.
Fantasia teases that Junction Row tells “a story where the fear of the unknown isn’t confined to what lies above, but what waits beneath.”
Stay tuned for more from Fantasia as the festival gets underway later this month.
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