Nicholas Hope in an episode of ‘Deadhouse Dark’ (Photo: Lauren Orrell).
Enzo Tedeschi’s horror anthology Deadhouse Dark will have its world premiere in the short form competition at Canneseries, the only Australian entry in the event which runs alongside the MIPTV market in Cannes.
The other nine contenders are Broder (Argentina), Dog Days (Canada), Christmas on Blood Mountain (Norway), Cryptid (Sweden), First Person (Canada), Replay (France), The Writers. A Short Series (Poland), Tony (Argentina) and Zero Day (US).
Jamie Bamber (Battlestar Galactica, Law & Order: London) is the president of the short form competition jury, serving with Erin Moriarty (One Life to Live, True Detective) and French actor/filmmaker Timothée Hochet.
The award of Best Short Form Series will be presented during the festival’s closing ceremony on April 1.
Screen Australia and Screen Queensland funded the series of six short horror films for YouTube and Tedeschi’s deadhouse.tv, anchored by a woman who orders a ‘mystery box’ from the dark web, only to discover that each item is linked to a macabre real world headline.
Rosie Lourde on set.
Tedeschi writes and directs Nicholas Hope and Barbara Bingham in A Tangled Web We Weave, an online dating encounter that turns a little dark – with a rodent twist.
Producer Rachele Wiggins helms Mystery Box, which stars Lauren Orrell as a young woman who uncovers the sinister secret locked inside a dark web mystery box that arrives unexpectedly on her doorstep.
Rosie Lourde directs Naomi Sequeira and Eliza Nicholls in Dashcam_013_20191031.mp4, which she co-wrote with Tedeschi, the story of two young girls who encounter a bloody and deserted car crash on a remote country road. The episode is told completely from the perspective of a car dashcam.
Megan Riakos’ No Pain No Gain is inspired by the real-life Blue Whale suicide challenge and stars Gemma Bird Matheson as a competitive runner desperate to win at any costs.
Denai Gracie’s The Staircase follows a group of online fame-hungry mystery hunters who face what lurks in the supernatural darkness below, starring Jenny Wu, Ryan Morgan and Adam Sollis.
Joshua Long’s My Empire Of Dirt follows a ‘death midwife’ (Akosia Sabet) who is tasked with helping Grace (Anni Finsterer) ease into a peaceful death despite being haunted by her past.
Deadhouse Dark’s crew included DOP Christopher Bland (Broke, Book Week, Locusts), production designer Scott Bird, editor Dan Berghofer and composer Caitlin Yeo, who oversaw the horror’s score.