“I think everybody enjoys well-made short films. They’re usually made by people who absolutely love what they’re doing, as there’s very little profit in making shorts. They’re so often fun, and sharp, and when they’re not, they’re over fast anyway!”
Aaron Barrocas
As we approach our Regular Deadline, Killer Shorts is very excited to bring you this interview with the production team behind the horror short Sitting Duck; Screenwriter~Director~Editor Aaron Barrocas, Producer~Director of Photography Sophia Cacciola, and Producer~Assistant Director Michael J. Epstein. Aaron was a semifinalist in Season 2 of the Killer Shorts Contest for his script, Sitting Duck. We are really happy to share the process Aaron had, in collaboration with Sophia & Michael’s production company Launch Over Productions, developing Sitting Duck from script to screen.
Having worked with Sophia & Michael on a previous project, Half-Cocked, Aaron knew they were the perfect team to collaborate on Sitting Duck. They had quite the unique experience, with production on the film shutting early due to COVID. This process allowed them to enter the script into Killer Shorts and find new perspectives on the film when going back into production. With the main character having to share an at-home office with her husband, finding him insufferable, and plotting to kill her husband, the concept of Sitting Duck became all too familiar with everyone at home. Aaron, Sophia, and Michael give excellent advice on developing a horror short into a feature, from financing the project through production. As writers themselves, Sophia & Michael have a firm grasp on storytelling, as well as, learning every facet of production, building solid crews for their projects. This production team proves it is possible, and we hope they inspire you to expand those horror short scripts. Check out the interview below.
Conversations with Aaron Barrocas and Launch Over Producers Sophia Cacciola & Michael J. Epstein
Where did you grow up & where do you currently reside? Have your surroundings had an impact on the films you make?
AB: I grew up in Merrick, New York, and currently live in Woodland Hills, California. They are both, in many ways, the suburbiest of suburbs. In between those two I lived in Boston (while at Emerson College), and Hollywood (my first 13 years in Los Angeles) – two very different cities. I even spent a year living in the somewhat removed-from-time Burbank, CA, in a small building within a much larger apartment complex, where I’m convinced the apartment managers placed all the oddballs (myself included). More memorably bizarre personalities lived in that one building than any other single place I’ve been. So having the experience of all those places combined, and the people that come with them, has certainly had an impact on the way I see the world. The perspectives, priorities, personalities, and overall speed of living vary so greatly from one place to the next.
Aaron Barrocas on Coverfly.
SC & MJE: Sophia is originally from Western NY in the Finger Lakes region. Michael is from Stony Brook, NY (Long Island). We then both lived in Boston for many years before moving to Los Angeles in 2016. All life experiences and settings certainly inform everything we do. We have lived in a wide variety of places around a diverse set of people, so that helps us consider different perspectives in storytelling. We have also traveled a fair amount, especially around the US.
Sophia Cacciola 
Michael J. Epstein
Can you, the best you can, give a brief description of your horror short script SITTING DUCK?
AB: Sitting Duck is the story of Camille and Nate Henderson, a married couple that has been forced to share a workspace (working from home), for the first time ever. During this period, Camille realizes that between Nate’s thickheadedness, his complete lack of self-awareness, and his routine cluelessness, her husband is insufferable. Her thoughts, quite understandably, turn to murder. Anybody who has ever said “No jury would convict you” has met some form of Nate Henderson.
Not being a naturally violent person, Camille is horrible at homicide. We all have our skills and weaknesses. As the one-sided tension between the couple grows, Camille repeatedly misses opportunities to end her husband’s life. But without spoiling the ending, I guess the moral of the story is to never give up on your dreams.
What was the inspiration behind SITTING DUCK?
AB: My wife and I like to joke that the script is autobiographical, and that one day she’ll succeed. Usually right about that point in the joking, her smile melts into a grim, determined look, and then she’s quiet for a little bit, as her eyes take on a distant, hopeful gaze, often in the direction of either a very blunt, heavy object, or sometimes towards that bow and arrow kit she’s been taking YouTube lessons for. But enough about that.
There’s few things more frustrating than not having your voice heard. If you have ever watched somebody speak up, and then get plowed over as if their opinions are of no consequence, you’ve seen Nate Henderson in action. If you’ve been the person whose thoughtful words are lost on some ignoramus, you’ve felt what Camille feels. Sadly, the Nate Hendersons of the world are the ones who would benefit most from listening to voices other than their own, making their dismissive attitude all the more irritating. While this behavior would be (and is!) agitating in a workplace, I can only imagine it would be painfully inescapable if it took place in the home.
Sitting Duck trailer below.
How did you come to submit this script to the 2021 Killer Shorts Contest? You had already started production on the film prior, so what about this contest stood out to you?
AB: There was a bit more than a year when we didn’t know for certain if we would be lucky enough to shoot the film. In January 2020, I sent the script to Sophia Cacciola and Michael J. Epstein, who had produced (and held multiple production and post-production positions) on Half-Cocked, the last short I had written and directed. The script made them laugh, and they were on board. They booked an excellent crew, we had numerous logistics and creative meetings, and we planned to use my own home as a shooting location. After a difficult casting process, we were extremely lucky to find the perfect couple. Tuesday Knight was a horror hero of mine. Her first film, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master was the first true horror movie I was allowed to rent on VHS as a kid, and its outlandish reality-bending style stuck with me for years. It hooked me on the series, and I can’t even count how many times I’ve rewatched it since childhood. To have the opportunity to direct Tuesday battling this very different, and much more common, type of monster was the coolest thing ever. Casting Nate was its own challenge as I wanted this insanely obnoxious person to look and feel like a human being, and not an absolute villain. He’s never intentionally malicious or aggressive. During the auditions, most actors were either too naturally likeable to play the role, or their negative traits felt forced and unnatural enough to make them into a moustache-twirler. Michael King’s audition was the opposite of that. He played dopey and clueless perfectly. Sophia, Michael, and I all laughed out loud at how possible it would be to meet and like this person one day, and then want to kill him by the next. As I always caveat – no reflection on Michael King himself – just his on-the-mark performance!
I did a punch-up pass on the script, attempting to saturate the pages with jokes and physical humor.
Sophia, Michael, Tuesday, Mike King, Tuesday’s assistant Jeff Kirshner (who is also a skilled producer and director), and I met in Hollywood for a rehearsal on March 10th, 2020, with all elements in place to shoot that weekend. The rehearsal went phenomenally. Tuesday WAS Camille – her choices felt real, but also supported the comedy. Mike King tapped right into who Nate is, and killed the role. The strained, disconnected chemistry between the couple was perfect, and we walked out of the rehearsal optimistic for the shoot.
Then the world paused. By Thursday, March 12th, it was clear that we were in a pandemic. For the safety of the cast and crew, we made the difficult decision to postpone the shoot indefinitely.
Meanwhile, I had an updated and punched-up version of the script, and I wanted eyes on it! So I submitted to a few select contests and festivals. I’ve liked Killer Shorts since it appeared on the scene for a number of reasons. I love that it’s genre-specific, because asking a non-genre reader to appreciate horror, let alone this type of darkly specific horror-comedy, is a tall order. Sending scripts to a genre-specific contest goes a long way towards ensuring an even playing field, where your reader is coming from the right place.
The fact that Killer Shorts is all horror short screenplays means every judge knows exactly what they’re in for. This is Killer Shorts’ only thing, and that’s very cool. In addition, I know and respect many of the writers who placed in Killer Short’s first year. That always gives me a sense of comfort with a contest – when they are rewarding people whose work I believe in.
And on a much more superficial level, Killer Shorts has really cool art. I know that I’m an easy mark for solid marketing, but kudos to the designer of that bleeding eye skull, and that fun logo!
What advice might you give someone who is considering entering their short horror scripts into a contest for the first time?
AB: Make a submission plan. Contest and festival aggregators like FilmFreeway and Coverfly are like flea markets. There’s a lot of junk mixed in with some true gems, and you can easily throw away hundreds of dollars on contests that exist solely to prey on desperate writers. If you don’t personally know what contests are valuable, read reviews, and do some Googling! Reach out to other screenwriters, either in person or on social media, to find out what competitions they trust.
Know what you want. Are you trying to get actionable feedback for your rewrite? Are you trying to earn accolades to use in funding the production of the short film? Base your submission plan on your ultimate goals with the piece.
Sophia & Michael, how did you come to meet and become a collaborative team? What led you to start the Launch Over Production Company?
SC & MJE: We first met because we were both involved in the Boston music scene. We became quick friends and bandmates. Launch Over was originally formed as a music licensing company to work to place our music and to help our friends in bands find placements for their music. After we started finding success making music videos with other directors that were played on MTV channels and found their way onto TIME’s best of the year list, we realized we wanted to make more videos in a financially sustainable way.
We bought the best camera gear we could afford and jumped right in. We also took every opportunity we could find to make films, especially short film competitions. We won a curator’s choice award for the Brattle Theatre’s fake movie trailer competition, and everyone involved with making the trailer convinced us to turn it into a real, full-feature film. Without much knowledge or experience, we dove in and made our first feature, TEN, and we haven’t stopped since.
Check out Launch Over Productions for more about their work.
Launch Over has quite the slate of successful horror, sci-fi, and thriller films, having screened at more than 50 film festivals worldwide. What stood out about SITTING DUCK to take this on as a project?
SC & MJE: We were especially excited to work with Aaron on another project after Half-Cocked. Sitting Duck is cleverly written, fun, and from a producing perspective, feasible with relatively few resources. Horror comedy is a very tough space to work in, but we knew we would be proud to be part of this movie.
How did you come to work with Sophia & Michael of Launch Over Productions? Had you worked with them before?
AB: I met Sophia and Mike at GenreBlast Film Festival in 2018, where they showed their feature, Clickbait. I was impressed with the movie and wound up speaking with them a bit. We ran into each other in Los Angeles a few times, and when I was prepping a different short script, Half-Cocked, to shoot, they offered to give it a read. They liked it and took on the responsibility of producing the 15-page script under their company, Launch Over. They formed a realistic plan for accomplishing all of the complicated scenes in Half-Cocked and organized all of the pre-production, including our casting process. I couldn’t have asked for a better overall production team.
With both Sophia and Michael handling logistics, Sophia as DP and Art Department, Mike as AD and Post Audio, and me directing and editing from my own script, with each of us giving the production 100 percent, every major decision was a group decision, and the collaboration worked out wonderfully for the final product.
Like any independent set, time was tight, and it was tough to make our days, but Sophia and Mike helped create a situation where our three brilliant leads, Pat Healy, Vanessa Benavente, and Lundon Boyd, had enough time to work through scenes until they felt comfortable. All three of them gave smart, thoughtful comedy performances, and truly brought the script to life.
Half-Cocked won 12 festival awards, received many positive reviews, and was a very positive experience. Sophia and Michael being my first call for Sitting Duck was a no-brainer.
I am also editing their upcoming feature documentary, The Once and Future Smash, and took part in a project they directed, The Transformations of the Transformations of the Drs. Jenkins, so we’ve had the chance to work together quite a bit by now!
You started production on SITTING DUCK in 2020 prior to the rise of COVID. Did anything change about the script during that time? Did the plot of a woman stuck at home with her husband resonate more?
AB: The biggest thing that changed between when we planned to shoot, and when we actually shot, was the relatability of the storyline. Now that so many more people are working from home, thousands of couples have a window into their spouse’s “work personality” for the first time ever, and in some cases they are impressed, and in other cases, not so much. Sophia, Mike, and I spoke a few times during our holding period in the pandemic about how everybody was now experiencing the thing that we had been about to make a movie about.
I made very slight changes in the first scene’s dialogue to suggest that the film takes place in real-world new-normal 2021, and added the visual of a newscast that mentions schools reopening. Beyond that, very little was adjusted.
Can you speak about the production experience? How did you change the approach to production after having a break in production? Did you learn anything new about the project?
SC & MJE: It was very disappointing to everyone to call it just before production was going to happen, but it was the right decision. We reassured Aaron that we would find the right time and place to make the film. Even if we had rushed, the festival situation was so chaotic that we probably benefited from waiting until things were a little more grounded.
The project definitely took on new meaning and context with the pandemic as an implied backdrop, but it probably also just strengthened the response from the audience.
Surprisingly, production changed relatively little after the break. We used most of the schedule and shooting plan that we had developed for the original dates. Because of COVID, we were a little more cautious about the number of people on set, and we did ask the crew to remain masked. By luck, we ended up filming in that narrow window of time after everyone was vaccinated (a requirement to be on set), but before delta-variant breakthrough cases became common. Los Angeles actually dropped all indoor mask restrictions two days after we wrapped.
SITTING DUCK is making the rounds at several festivals this year, from the Horror Movie Freaks Film Festival to The Nightmares Film Fest, and more. How has this validated the experience after having postponed production for some time?
AB: We’re definitely having a fun festival run. This was made with the sole intention of showing it at fests, so we’re glad we’ve been getting that opportunity. You truly don’t know what you have – especially with comedy – until other people react to it. Getting named as an Official Selection means that it hit some viewers the right way. Fests get tons of submissions, and the judges have to sit through hours and hours of short films and feature films to find the right material to program. The fact that any festival judge watched Sitting Duck and laughed enough to recommend its inclusion in the program is very gratifying. With comedy there isn’t a tremendous amount of grey area – people laugh or they don’t. And this is a tough one because we’re asking (mostly) horror fests to accept a piece that’s much heavier on jokes than gore. There are always horror-comedy blocks at horror festivals, but Sitting Duck admittedly leans pretty far in one direction over the other! I think that Tuesday and Mike King handled their roles in a very human way that people can easily connect to, and their performances have made a big impact on fest selection.
The filmmaking team deserves a lot of credit for creating something of high quality. There were a good amount of production challenges. We had a tiny vaxxed and masked crew, and they nailed it.
Michael Epstein had a tough set to run as an AD. The schedule was tight, and the location presented a number of challenges. He was a constant stream of solutions, and we made both of our days. Sophia, after tons of prep in the weeks leading up to the shoot, shot a cleanly and cleverly lit film despite some very tough rooms and tight spaces! Bill Moldt (Gaffer) expertly controlled all the light in our window-filled space, changing from day to night in minutes, covering Tuesday and Mike in beautiful hues. Winston Moore (Production Audio) had to compete with outdoor noise, AC issues (June in the San Fernando valley!), and minimal setup time, and he didn’t blink an eye at it. Renae Goodhew (makeup), who is a perfectionist in the best way, wound up working in the tightest of spaces, but still quietly pulled Tuesday and Nate aside every chance she got to keep them camera-ready (I mentioned the AC issues and the valley heat, right?). Joe Castro (special effects and gore!) came in for our one big effect shot, and we had enough time for two takes. They were so perfect that we used both takes in the movie! Our 2nd AD, Porcelain Dalya, didn’t stop moving for two days straight. Thanks to her organizational efforts, you’d barely know we had a skeleton crew. Alex Perez was our PA, but a PA on an indie short with a small crew basically means she wound up working with every department in a number of different roles for two days, and I don’t think anybody could have done it better. Jeff Kirshner was on set helping Tuesday, and keeping everybody in good spirits, despite having to direct his own shoot at 5am the next morning!
Once we moved into Post, I cut the film (my day job is editing tv), relying heavily on input from Sophia and Mike, as well as my friend Steve Cohen, a director who I’ve worked with on about a thousand projects. Otherwise, editing in a vacuum on a project that I wrote, directed, and had no objectivity towards, could have easily led to disaster. Catherine Capozzi created this wild, unique, layered score where, if you listen to her other music on Spotify, you can hear her very specific style, and it’s wonderful in the film. Joe Castro came in to add some digital effects – sharing his decades of experience with us in a few hours. My friend Mike Bayouth, a professional designer and storyboard artist, volunteered his time to make two super fun poster designs, both of which we use regularly on Instagram and Facebook. And finally, Michael Epstein created the audio mix – probably the most important technical piece of a film – and his work holds up on phone speakers or cinema speakers.
So it does feel amazing that fests are choosing to screen the film, but it also feels earned, because so many people gave so much time, energy, and talent into making this short film. When people give so much of themselves, I feel that I owe it to them to at least have a good film to show for it! And yes – I’m so happy that after over a year’s delay, we were finally able to create this and share it!
Sophia & Michael have this to say about the Sitting Duck festival run and the Killer Shorts semifinalist placement:
“We already knew the script was high quality prior to any competition success or recognition! But it’s still great to see the script receiving recognition, and it definitely reassures everyone involved that the quality of the script is very high. External validation does boost everyone’s confidence, and it also helps outsiders who have little ability to judge or contextualize work to recognize the quality.”
Sophia Cacciola & Michael J Epstein
What advice might you give to a finalist or a horror short writer who is thinking of shooting their script?
AB: Work with people you trust. Build your team carefully. Writing is a solo (or in some cases, dual) effort, but filmmaking is a collaboration where one person can either boost production quality beyond what you thought was possible or derail a full day of shooting. Every person on your set (and in post!) is sharing their time and experience with you, and nothing is more valuable than that. If you are producing, feed your crew and cast well! Not just the meals but crafty, too – it’s one of the very few ways you can actually show appreciation to everybody simply for being there for you instead of someplace else with their friends or family. We can’t all afford to pay full rates for our independently produced short films, but pay something. Whether it’s a partial rate, or a trade for your own skills, be as good to people as you can. They have no reason to care about your film, and yet there they are, helping you.
Find the right cast for your roles. All your time and energy is worth nothing if what is on screen plays flat and the cast makes your script feel worse than it is. Once you have the cast you need, rehearse! So many indie shorts and features miss this step. If your cast hasn’t walked through the whole film, and at least had some conversation about their character, how can they be expected to give a consistent performance that builds the way it needs to for the story to work?
Every detail matters, so consider your choices carefully. Once it’s shot, it’s often tough to get back to the location with the cast and crew, so leave as little to chance as you possibly can, and know everything you want to do with your time long before you step onto the set.
SC & MJE: Make sure your shutter is set to 180 degrees! In all seriousness, just have fun and prepare to be humbled by all of the compromises and last-minute adjustments you’ll have to make. Do not get too attached to what is on the page. Instead, find what should be in front of the camera.
As creatives on the production side of horror films, what would you say is beneficial about horror short script contests in getting your work noticed?
SC & MJE: We are also writers ourselves, and we enter screenwriting competitions to get validation, feedback, and to take a temperature check from a different type of reader than we might get if we ask our friends to take a look at something we’ve written.
In addition, a lot of producers and directors are not sure where to turn for high-quality scripts, so seeing that someone is getting recognition for their work leaves the impression that they are not only good at writing but very dedicated to the pursuit of success as a writer.
We are not often hiring outside writers, but when we have, initial outreach has been based on seeing competition and festival success. We know someone has already done the work to vet them and we know they are dedicating their time and money to their craft. In a lot of ways, these types of successes are what you make from them actively.
MJE: This past year, I wrote my first TV pilot to experiment with the form and try something I had never tried (I mostly write features). After sharing some of the successes of that project on social media, my friend Jim McDonough reached out to me to help collaborate on writing his feature film, Manicorn. He did that because from his perspective, it seemed like I was serious about writing and dedicated to it at that time. I was probably writing just about the same amount as I was before, but the external validation indicated to him that I was serious and that I had at least some skill that was being recognized. That has been a wonderful collaboration that probably would not have arisen without screenwriting competition, even though it did not come directly from it.
“We try not to look too far ahead. Our crystal ball is very faulty!”
Sophia Cacciola & Michael J. Epstein
As the director of the film, how did you approach production having also written the script? Did the experience directing help you learn more about your script, or vice versa? Had you directed a project before?
AB: This was my second festival short, but I have spent years directing short form comedy for basic cable television day-of-air and week-of-air shows, as well as branded content, web series, and other quick-turnaround material. There’s still a big difference between those projects and building a multi-scene three-act story in cinematic form – regardless of how short that story is!
Any writer benefits from seeing the way actors tackle their dialogue. Experienced actors who have spent their lives interpreting writers’ work will inevitably find and carve out levels of depth and subtext in the dialogue that most writers can’t even pretend we had intended! Often the smartest thing a writer/director can do is listen to how other people are interpreting your scene because regardless of what your intention was when you wrote it, it now has its own life.
Directing comedy is different from many other genres because so much of the dialogue and the timing has to work out a certain way for the piece to sing, but it can’t work out that way just because the joke needs to hit. That’s too forced. So the actors in the scene need to build towards that moment in a way that makes sense for their characters, so that when it hits, not only does the joke land, but it feels natural. Otherwise, you’ve just put together an assembly of jokes that a viewer can tune in and out of anytime they want. Many of our conversations on set were gearing scenes in a direction that felt honest, even as we played with the surreal, taking deep dives into Camille’s imagination, and bringing her a tiny bit over the top while pushing Nate to the heights of obnoxiousness. It still came from a kernel of reality, and despite the silly tone of the whole piece, people can still relate to both characters – hopefully not too much, though, as the movie is about spousicide.
Sophia & Michael, What stood out to you about Aaron as a writer and director that made you confident to collaborate with him on the production of SITTING DUCK?
SC & MJE: Aaron’s writing really stands out. When he had originally posted that he was looking for help producing Half-Cocked, we told him we really didn’t think we would be able to help him, but that we wanted to read the script anyway. We’ve read a lot of short scripts and even many that we’ve liked, but this really was the first time that we felt like we really just had to find a way to make it happen. We loved the underlying concept and the layered subtleties of the characters. The writing works as relatively broad humor without noticing how clever the concept is, but there are a lot of places to dig for the deeper, more subtle bits that Aaron works in.
Half-Cocked was pretty complicated, but we sat down and found solutions to just about everything so that we didn’t have to compromise the cleverness of the vision. Once we wrapped Half-Cocked and started the festival run, Aaron shared Sitting Duck. It also had his clever and layered sense of humor, unique perspective, and its own very funny underlying concept. We had such a nice festival run with Half-Cocked and we knew a lot of the festivals would be glad to see another of Aaron’s films.
Half-Cocked tailer below.
What did you find beneficial about Aaron directing the script he wrote?
SC & MJE: Even when they seem simple and broad, Aaron’s scripts are very subtle and complex, and it would be hard for anyone else to capture the nuances of the humor and the movements of his stories. Our goal has been to just find the way to make everything he needs to tell that story possible.
Were you always interested in horror shorts, or horror in general? Do you plan on continuing in the genre?
AB: I have always loved the genres I write in – I spent my childhood consuming (and also writing) as much horror and comedy as I could, and I definitely intend to continue creating that style of material. I’ve just completed a limited location horror/thriller feature script called AirB-N-Blood which I’m hoping to shoot in the near future.
And as far as the shorts part of your question, I think everybody enjoys well-made short films. They’re usually made by people who absolutely love what they’re doing, as there’s very little profit in making shorts. They’re so often fun, and sharp, and when they’re not, they’re over fast anyway!
SC & MJE: We both grew up seeking out the strangest movies we could find, which usually land in the horror, sci-fi, and surreal sections. We love the opportunity to use visual metaphor and unconfined structure to explore themes and existential issues. Horror is such a broad category, but within it, there is definitely space to dive into the elements of film we love most.
Launch Over has done very well producing films within a limited budget. How do you stay constantly creating with lower budgets?
SC & MJE: The biggest things that have made this possible are learning to do every job ourselves and gradually building up relatively professional gear so that we are self-sufficient. We really worked hard to get good at camera (Sophia also works professionally now as a DP, camera operator, and assistant camera) and sound (music recording background helped a lot). We benefit a lot from being a team. Sophia is more focused on pre-production, Michael on post. We can both handle any technical job on set and we are both quick to adapt and find solutions to problems.
We also have an amazing roster of skilled friends who step in and work with us with the understanding that on a microbudget set, they may be doing several jobs at once. We do our best to treat our crew and cast with respect and care and to pay them the best we can (which is always less than we want), knowing that we want them to come back next time!
Check out Launch Over Productions for more info on their projects.
Maybe you could touch on your process for obtaining capital. What advice might you give a budding filmmaker who feels financing is holding them back from creating?
SC & MJE: Money is definitely the hardest part. The only advice we can really give is to write and make the film that you have the resources to make instead of waiting around for money or the right circumstances. There are great, cheap stories. If all you can afford is to shoot on your phone by yourself, find a story to tell that works for it.
What do you see for the future of Launch Over? What do you hope for your careers?
SC & MJE: We try not to look too far ahead. Our crystal ball is very faulty!
Right now, we’re in the final stages of production on The Once and Future Smash, the story of the two actors who played the character Smash-Mouth in the 1970 movie, End Zone 2. We hope it will be premiering at festivals in Summer or Fall of 2022, along with the restoration of End Zone 2. We are also working on a segment of the Fat Fleshy Fingers anthology film.
After that, we will see which feature project best fits our resources!
In the meantime, we are wrapping up post work on several short films and just released a mini-documentary we produced in collaboration with Jim McDonough, called, Darling Pet Monkey, which tells the true story of the arrival of a mail-order monkey (and the ensuing chaos).
Find out more about Sophia and Michael’s creative endeavors in acting, writing, music, and so much more.
Some final advice from Aaron on how to successfully take your horror short from script to screen:
What do you think is most beneficial, to a writer’s career, about writing & producing a short horror script?
AB: For a writer, I think every single thing that you write is beneficial. Shorts are wonderful because they’re not a chore for somebody to read. Try sending a 90-page feature to 15 people you know. If you’re lucky, one of them will read it. If you’re even luckier, that person will get back to you to let you know they’ve read it, and share opinions. Ask those same 15 people to read your 10 page short. If they trust you to begin with, there’s a good chance many of them will. From that point on, each of those readers have more of a sense of your storytelling style and sensibilities. That alone goes a long way. It’s a good way to say “Here’s what I can do – in a nutshell”.
That being said, writing a short is a difficult exercise in itself. Telling a story properly with a limited page count isn’t easy. It’s a challenge to see how much you can share in a short period of time.
As far as producing, watching actors transform into your characters is an incredible experience, and when they do it well, it’s like watching your imagination unfold in front of you. Seeing human beings sounding out the clunkiest and cleanest of your dialogue also gives you much more food for thought the next time you write anything.
As far as what it does for career – that’s tough. There is no ladder in this career where making the right moves definitively leads to success. All we can do is improve our skills so that when the opportunities come, we’ll be prepared to handle them. From that perspective, yes- I recommend every writer shoot their own material. You’d better understand what you’re asking people to do. I also recommend writers take acting classes for this same reason!
One of the best things about writing and/or shooting your own short is that it gets you to festivals – where you meet other writers you can learn from – and other filmmakers you can work with – and other like-minded people who care about and enjoy the same weird stuff you do!
Both shorts that I shot since 2019 have been a tremendous amount of work, but a wildly positive experience. Thanks for the opportunity to discuss them!
Final Thoughts
Killer Shorts hopes Aaron Barroca’s journey taking Sitting Duck from script to screen inspires you to not only submit to our contest but to consider shooting your own script. Despite low-budget films, Sophia & Michael prove it is possible to take your script through production. Aaron mentions the best thing about shooting a short film is being able to meet new people through the festival run. As Sophia & Michael put it, have fun with the process and with a solid crew of friends that understand the microbudget process, a horror short film production can be made possible. It was a pleasure speaking with Aaron, Sophia, & Michael because they give wonderful advice on bringing your short script into production, how to obtain financing and the process of directing your own writing. We know Aaron’s story will inspire many of our finalists and anyone wondering what comes next for their script.
Submit to Coverfly, FilmFreeway, or NetworkISA for just $25 by the Oct. 31 Regular Deadline!
Killer Shorts actively promotes diverse voices. If you are female-identifying, a Person of Color, a person with a disability, non-binary, or LGBTQ+ please email us at [email protected], or DM us on Twitter, for a discount code to submit your scripts.
Aaron Barrocas’ website.
Aaron Barrocas on Coverfly.
Sophia Cacciola’s website.
Sophia Cacciola on Instagram.
Sophia Cacciola on Twitter.
Michael J. Epstein’s website.
Michael J. Epstein on Instagram.
Michael J. Epstein on Twitter.
Featured Image by Ieva Berzina.
