The Thomas Beale Cipher has been solved! No, not the actual historical cipher—but rather the one hidden in our visually-saturated short film, The Thomas Beale Cipher.

When we released the film online 9 months ago, we weren’t sure what would happen. In our subsequent analysis of why the film did well online, it was clear that having deeper layers of the experience that spoke to true fans was key. Since the day of release, a dedicated crew of professional and amateur cryptanalysts have been hard at work on finding every last hidden clue. I give my personal thanks to them for their support of the film.

Handmade still frame from the film

But the man who solved it all is Miroslav Sustek, a 23-year old computer science student from Ostrava, Czech Republic (NOT the horror short story writer). Turns out he got into cryptography in much the same way I did—through reading detective and puzzle books as a child. His current area of study is in computer security—otherwise known as the modern day form of cryptography.

For his efforts, Miroslav will receive a special gift. A limited edition DVD set and something else I’ve wanted to do for awhile—a single still frame from the short film cut and composited entirely by hand. It turned out so great that I had a hard time giving it away—it’s a thing of beauty. Enjoy, you’ve earned it!