The fine folks at 20th Digital Studio are premiering a series of 30 diverse, genre-bending short films for Halloween 2020 called BITE SIZE HORROR. The delectable 2 minute capsules range from horror comedy to psychological thrillers and everything in between. Their only motives, to entertain and scare. Today we share more shorts and more Q and A from the filmmakers behind this fun, frightening series.

Created by a diverse group of up-and-coming filmmakers, these films will screen across digital and broadcast platforms Freeform, FX, and Hulu’s Huluween platform hub and YouTube channel. David Worthen Brooks, EVP of 20th Digital Studio, says, “20th Digital Studio and the Bite-Size series provide a platform for emerging storytellers and give them the resources needed to realize their vision.”

Easily one of the more exciting events this Halloween the series offers what Brooks describes as, “A low-risk proof-of-concept for a feature version of the short, providing the filmmaker concrete steps toward their larger ambition. This energy and excitement in short form horror provide a global arena for a community of diverse filmmakers.”

Bite Size Halloween 2020 features 30 exciting new filmmakers, amplifying their voice in the film
community. This year’s cohort includes a well-rounded group of filmmakers representing different countries, identities, and backgrounds. The long term goal of 20th Digital Studio’s short film programs is to continue to guide and finance the growth of these filmmakers and their carreers.

You can see all of the shorts HERE.

Back to Cave One – Maryka & Quentin

Kid’s horror is the best. Here we find the story of a young cave girl and the thrill and reward of diligence and, more importantly, trick or treating. Silliness and vibrant colors abound in this charming story of a precocious young girl eager to partake in Halloween fun. Grab the kids and enjoy!

Back to Cave One (Full Short) | Bize Size Halloween Jr. • Huluween
HorrorBuzz: What are the key ingredients for spooky fun for kids in movies or shorts?

Director, Maryka & Quenti:

It is really fun to think of spooky stories with a target audience for kids, it makes you think of new amusing ways to revisit horror movies codes. It’s about how you can turn something horrible into something harmless with a right touch of spookiness.

As a kid, you can invent such worlds out of nothing, a plastic bag can become a ghost. We’d say one of the key ingredients is to try to go back to kid mind. You can use ordinary situations and turn them into imagined scary things, and the fun comes from the whole misinterpretation that results of it!

A lot of it comes also from the atmosphere, we love to play with colours and lights to build a really mysterious and eerie vibe without going into something grim and dark with gory monsters lurking in the shadows.

OLD MAID – Ryan Jennifer Jones

A woman readies herself to marry the man of her dreams in an apparently historic hotel when the ghosts within begin to haunt her. This piece is very Twilight Zone, very Black Mirror and moody as heck. What bigger decision than to get married, what bigger fear than to be the Old Maid?

 

Old Maid (Full Short) | Bite Size Halloween • Huluween
 

HorrorBuzz: If a message leading to your demise were slipped under your door what would it say?

Director, Ryan Jennifer Jones: 

Oh, man — these days?

“Four more years.”

 

REBORN – Alexandria Collins

A young girl is being baptized at the urging of her guardians. Little do they know what hell is in store for them. What makes this piece work is the abrupt tonal shift and the sudden flip of power. In just two minutes we get a fiendish tale of unholy warfare. Our only complaint? We need more.

Reborn (Full Short) | Bite Size Halloween • Huluween
 

Q: What is it about the horrors of conformity that drew you? Why is that scary?

A: What really drew me to write this piece was the perceived closeness to God you receive after being baptized. The purity and transformation. I wanted to flip that on its head and look at what “powers” you could really attain by taking that kind of oath. Conformity is a bedrock of religion and bucking that often comes at the expense of your community or your faith. I think the challenge of identifying which should go if you find yourself on the outskirts is interesting to explore.

Q: Was this something that happened to you when you were younger?

A:Well, I did get baptized as a child. No black ink or supernatural possession followed though (darn it). I grew up in the Christian faith in the American south and still hold religion dear although now, I practice my actual faith and connection to God in and out of the confines of religion.

 


20th Digital Studio’s BITE SIZED HORROR shorts can be seen
on Hulu, Freeform and FX, and YouTube.

About the Author

Norman Gidney is a nearly lifelong horror fan. Beginning his love for the scare at the age of 5 by watching John Carpenter's Halloween, he set out on a quest to share his passion for all things spooky with the rest of the world.