The final countdown to Halloween has officially begun and what better way to celebrate than with a collection of spooky short films? Well, look no further than the new season of 20th Digital Studio’s Bite Size Halloween, with 18 genre shorts available on Hulu as part of their Huluween programming. For those of us outside the US, there are 4 shorts available on Hulu’s YouTube channel.

Initially titled Bite Size Horror, the shorts from the first slate were all two minute long and aired on broadcast during commercial slots, with Rob Savage’s Salt one of the standout shorts from that first collection. Now rebranded Bite Size Halloween, and in its second year as part of Huluween, the initiative has become quite the showcase for upcoming talent. With this annual celebration of genre filmmaking providing such an incredible opportunity for short filmmakers, we decided to reach out to 20th Digital Studio’s VP of Development, Arbi Pedrossian, to find out what makes a good Bite Size Halloween film.

S/W: Bite Size Halloween shorts are obviously genre films, but is there anything specific you look for when hearing pitches?

AP: We are looking for voice-driven films with emerging filmmakers. We love shorts that are fun and original and have something to say. Many of our shorts delve into relevant social issues, but there are also plenty that have a sense of humor or provide a fun escape. We’re also really interested in seeing worlds that can be expanded into features.

S/W: One of the raison d’etre of Bite Size Halloween is also to provide an opportunity to up-and-coming filmmakers, how do you find those filmmakers?

AP: We find filmmakers through festivals, through reps, or through online platforms like Short of the Week. All the other creative elements usually come together through the director’s vision and their relationships.

As previously mentioned four films are available on YouTube (see Playlist above): Appendage starring Rachel Sennott (Shiva Baby) and Eric Roberts, Daughters of Witches starring Yalitza Aparicio, Poppet co-written and starring Troian Bellisario and Unicorn directed by S/W alum Matt Porter (Flex), which sees him reunite with writer/actor Charles Gould.

The presence of familiar names within the S/W community reinforced our excitement for this new season and we saw it as the perfect opportunity to catch up with some friends of the site and ask them about the process of making a Bite Size Halloween short:

Nick Rowell (producer of Vert) shared with us that a producer from 20th Digital Studio had reached out asking if he wanted to pitch after catching Vert at SXSW 2020. After developing ideas with different writers/directors, it was Nichola Wong’s idea for Struck that ended up being greenlit. He also added that the studio “really trust their directors and do everything to support the team and the creative.”

When we asked director Beck Kitsis, whose short The Three Men You Meet at Night was programmed at some of the biggest genre festivals, about the creative process that led her to making a short for the initiative, she confessed: “I developed each one (idea) specifically with Bite Size Halloween’s format in mind. So when I began discussing my ideas, I presented treatments and lookbooks, but didn’t write the script for Red is the Color of Beauty until after we formally began working on the project together in late June”.

A still from Victoria Rivera’s short The Longest Breath.

S/W alum Victoria Rivera (Verde, Night Swim) got the opportunity through her producing partner Camila Zavala, who was asked if she’d be interested in pitching with a director as a team. Out of the five ideas they pitched, The Longest Breath got the greenlight. “The script came together very fast after that (it was only two pages) since we knew exactly what we wanted”, Rivera explains. Adding that she found the process a “really fun collaboration”.

Katie White (producer of Still Wylde) and Megan Leonard (producer of Mixtape Marauders) teamed up to produce Ursula Ellis’ Occupational Hazard. When we asked how they ended up collaborating on a Bite Size Halloween film together, they shared that it was actually Ellis who had previously pitched to the 20th Digital Studio team and brought the team together. Originally developed for another project, she pitched the idea for Occupational Hazard with a couple of other concepts and brought White and Leonard together through (what Leonard describes as) “a couple of rounds of producer matchmaking”. As independent producers, both were unsure as to how it would work with the studio, but White shared that they had a “great experience with their production team”, adding that they “were one of 18 films and never felt like we were falling through the cracks”. Leonard certainly agrees, revealing that “their notes throughout the process were usually spot on and they truly helped us develop the script into what it is now, but they also trusted us to make the right creative decisions along the way”.

A still from Bridget Moloney’s short The New Nanny

Producer Valerie Steinberg (Fry Day, Blocks), who was well aware of the series, connected with Arbi Pedrossian at the 2021 virtual edition of SXSW, just before they started hearing pitches for the second season. “He welcomed me to bring in as many filmmakers as I liked to pitch”, says Steinberg. “At that stage, a script wasn’t required, just a verbal pitch along with pitch materials (which generally included a treatment/ paragraph description of the story beats, as well as image references)”. The pitch that got selected was director Bridget Moloney’s (Blocks) The New Nanny, and from there “they provided us with a specific budget, and it was up to us to make the film within this budget. They were really helpful all along the way, providing creative guidance at script stage, with casting, on set, and in post – as well as streamlining the logistical and delivery processes”.

The next iteration of Bite Size will be for the holiday season. Bite Size Holiday will have four shorts, with Steinberg attached to all four as an Executive Producer.