ALL HOLLOW

Short Film

ALL HOLLOW

Sooner or later, Michael will make us all as hollow as he is.

A "Halloween" fan film I co-directed, exploring the tropes of a standard Michael Myers flick while embedding our own spin on the slasher genre. Being the first live action production I've ever helmed, I'm incredibly proud of what we were able to achieve on such a tight schedule and shoestring budget. My team and I storyboarded, shot, edited, reshot, composed, sound designed and composited it all within 2 months, and delivered the short film just in time for Halloween 2025.

Directed by: Chris Kas & Matt Incontri

Written by: Matt Incontri

Executive Producers: Lure Digital, Robin Shapiro, Eyal Zuker

Produced by: Elise Wine, Courtney Baker, Beau Batchelor

Starring: Juliette Cecile, Sarah Lomke, Samy Sharif, Mike Clifford

Assistant Director: Beau Batchelor

DOP/ Editor: Chris Kas

1st Assistant Camera: Joe Moceri

Gaffers: Sergio Crego, Alex Velasco

Sound Design & Mixing: Dillon Cahill

Composer: George Wundsam

Production Design: Sarah Edelman, Elise Wine

Script Supervisor: Courtney Baker

Boom Operator: Josh Gacita

Effects Consultant: Callie Maxson

Food Stylist: Loyal Olive Oil

Gear Provide by: Lure Digital

Step 1:

WRITE IT

Like any good story, it can captivate you through the written word alone. Or at least that’s the idea anyway. The blank page can be quite daunting but thankfully my Co-Director, Chris Kas, had a few key objectives he wanted to tackle which proved to be an excellent springboard to get the first draft down.

First, Chris wanted to create a short film that felt like it was plucked out of the middle of a larger feature-length film, so we threw the viewer directly into the action on page one. Second, we wanted to keep the story contained to a single location to keep production costs down while also maintaining the viewers' attention, so we utilized the home’s layout and structured the story around a “There and back again” kind of journey to keep our characters kinetic. And thirdly, we just really wanted to capture the essence of Michael Myers, so we made sure to elongate the dread of his off screen presence until it was time for him to strike.

Step 2:

STORYBOARD IT

As someone coming from animation, where all you need to make a film is a computer and no life, the jump into live-action was quite the intimidating challenge. So when it came down to expressing my vision to the cast and crew, I reverted to my comfort zone, which was drawing it all from scratch.

Although these are incredibly rough and done in less than a week before the shoot, the boards proved to be an incredibly useful asset on set as a reference point for both the individual shot, as well as the overarching story. Especially with such a complex one-shot that traversed most of the set to open the short, the boards provided a visual blueprint that the whole crew was able to bring to life on the day.

Click here to see how the boards compare to the finished opening sequence.

Step 3:

SHOOT IT

Shot over the course of two night shoots with the bulk of the crew, followed by another pickup shoot with a smaller group to capture inserts, we were able to produce the whole short for less than $2500. We surrounded ourselves with a ragtag group of creative masterminds (our friends) who brought their A game to every discipline of the filmmaking process, from cinematography (Chris Kas) and focus pulling (Joe Moceri), to set decoration (Sarah Edelman/ Elise Wine), gaffing (Sergio Crego/ Alex Velasco), and assistant direction (Beau Batchelor). Not to mention the incredible cast (Juliette Cecile, Sarah Lomke, Samy Sharif, and Mike Clifford) who not only delivered incredible performances but made us care about their characters in such a short runtime.

This project was a directorial bootcamp that pushed me in every creative discipline across the board and although I was dripping sweat with a scatter-brain for a majority of it, I believe I'm a better storyteller for it. I am indebted to my incredible cast and crew for trusting my vision and translating all our crazy ideas into onscreen gold.

Step 4:

EDIT IT

Since we shot under such a tight schedule with minimal time for improvising, when it came to cutting all the footage together, we had fairly little wiggle room with our takes. But where limitations reign supreme, creativity thrives. Chris and I used every trick in the editor's rule book to squeeze every ounce of screen time from the limited footage we had. From stealing outtakes and repurposing camera setups to utilizing crash zooms and implementing transitions between scenes, we got creative with the edit to put our modern spin on the slasher genre, while also maintaining the familiar structure and tropes of the original "Halloween."

A week after the shoot, Chris Kas already had a rough cut of the short whipped together and although it was apparent that what we captured was working and altogether captivating, it was also clear to see that a pickup shoot was needed. The large strokes were locked in, we just needed smaller insert shots to elongate the tension and sell certain actions. Once we captured the inserts, everything just clicked.

Step 5:

COMPOSE & SOUND DESIGN IT

Visuals are just half the equation of filmmaking, and although the story was working, the tone, scares, and gore were not. That's where the sound wizards step in and elevate the viewing experience to a whole new level. George Wundsam delivered a hauntingly creepy score that boosted the dread and terror of Juliette's journey into the unknown, not to mention the incredibly epic rendition of the "Halloween Theme" that George solely composed for the film's end title card.

George's music combined with Dillon Cahill's sound design and mixing is where the special sauce is concocted. Before Dillon's stepped in, all the gore VFX were reading as cheap thrills, but after his sound design pass, we ourselves were squirming in our seats. Horror is one of the rare genres where you can harvest a visceral reaction from your audience and thanks to George and Dillon's talents we were able to capitalize on our scares.

Step 6:

COLOR CORRECT & COMPOSITE IT

You think that the job is done since you captured the footage? Far from it, buddy.

The raw footage comes in muted and desaturated, so it takes some work to make the colors pop the same way they appeared on set as well as any adjustments you want to make to achieve the visual tone you're going for. Thankfully, Chris is a man of many talents, including being a professional colorist, using the 2018 "Halloween" trilogy as a color palette reference.

While Chris was tackling the coloring, I was taking it upon myself to tackle any digital visual effects required for certain scenes. We strived to achieve as many of the VFX practically in camera on the day, but there were some limitations especially while trying to maintain the beauty and integrity of the home we were shooting in. In the shot shown below, we knew we needed to have our lead character leaking a puddle of blood onto floor, but since the home had original one of a kind hardwood, we decided to add the blood in post. At a later date, we simply shoot footage of blood pouring onto a green screen matte and composited it into the original footage in After Effects. All my VFX are far from perfect but they worked given the tight deadline.

Drag the cursor below to see before and after color correction & compositing.

Step 7:

DESIGN IT

An easy way for a movie to squander its potential is by not respecting its own credits enough to make it fully cohesive with the rest of the picture. A title card should not only tell you a film's title, but also establish a visual and tonal standard that the rest of the film will live up to.

Maybe it's my Associate's degree in graphic design that entitles me to be such a design snob, but I wanted my own short film to tell the viewer that this is a professional production from frame the very first frame. Utilizing some establishing shots mixed with coverage we got of the decorated set, I tracked the credits to each shot so it would feel like the words were living in the space they were inhabiting.

Step 8:

POSTERIZE IT

In anticipation of the film's release, I wanted to design a poster to pair alongside it to share on social media and on movie database sites such as Letterboxd and TMDB. The hand-painted poster for the original 1978 "Halloween," depicting an evil jack-o-lantern and a hand gripping a knife, is one of my favorite posters of all time, and I wanted to create a poster for "ALL HOLLOW" that felt like a spiritual successor.

Painted in Photoshop in less than a day, I referenced countless photos from the film to get the character's faces and expression just right. I sought out to create a poster design that wasn't your standard floating heads or static image from the film, and instead was an abstract visual representation of the short's tone.

Step 9:

DELIVER IT

Not including the scriptwriting process, Chris and I managed to complete “All Hollow," from on set to final export, in less than two months, just in time for Halloween 2025. After weeks of fake blood, sweat, and tears, we premiered the film on YouTube on October 27, 2025 to an incredibly warm reception from family, friends, and strangers. We are incredibly grateful for everyone who shared, commented and championed our little love letter to John Carpenter’s masterpiece "Halloween.”

Leading up to the shoot, I had a few restless nights as my mind raced about all the things that could have gone wrong, but I was quickly put at ease when our army of talented creatives showed up to work. I couldn’t have had a better experience on a short film and I cannot wait to continue down this path of Live-action storytelling.

In two weeks “ALL HOLLOW” has gained over ten thousand views and counting.