‘Things We Dig’ is a horror comedy about four female vampires trying to make an extra buck. Of course they have a plan…but will it work?
Starring Jenn Larson, Cat Forrest , Morgan Marlow, Marc Biagi, Stephanie Scurry, Patrick Russell Burton, Deepti Kingra-Mickelsen and myself. Written and directed by yours truly!
Enjoy and feel free to share!
Update 7/21/2021:
Update 9/27/2020:
Things we Dig will have its World Premiere at Screamfest Los Angeles!
‘Things We Dig‘ is an official selection of Screamfest L.A.
Where:
Regency Theatres THE PLANT DRIVE-IN in Van Nuys.
When:
Tuesday, October 13th at 9pm. Gates open at 8.30pm.
Get your tix for:
“A Ghost Waits North American Premiere + Ghoulish Horror Shorts” in the link provided below. ‘Things We Dig’ will be shown in a short film block following the feature film. Due to Covid19, it’ll most likely be the only Southern California live/in-person event for the horror comedy film this year!
All COVID guidelines and mask wearing are required.
The drive-in will project from DCP. Regular theatre concessions are available inside the Regency lobby. Get details about car loads etc in the “buy ticket” link:
Join us at the screening and get your tix here!
‘Things We Dig’ is a horror comedy about four female vampires trying to make an extra buck. Of course they have a plan…but will it work?
Starring Jenn Larson, Cat Forrest , Morgan Marlow, Marc Biagi, Stephanie Scurry, Patrick Russell Burton, Deepti Kingra-Mickelsen and myself. Written and directed by yours truly!
Things We Dig – a Horror Comedy
Coming to a film festival near you, somewhere, sometime…when we have festivals again!
“In order to pay bills and pass as mere mortals, four female vampires offer a unique ‘cleaning and disposal’ service. Hoping to boost their struggling business, they hire a small film crew to make a commercial for the dark net. Naturally, it doesn’t take long for human and vampire cooperation to dissolve over bloody creative differences…”
Update 7/13/2020: We have a brand new trailer!
Please follow on social media for more frequent updates:
and a unique perspective from one of the film’s character on instagram!
When I wrote my first short film ‘The Appointment’, I did it out of necessity, in order to give myself a fun acting role to play and to cast one of my best actor friends while at it. I wasn’t planning on making another film until I saw the vampire comedy feature ‘What we do in the Shadows’. It made me wonder what it would look like to have four female vampires living together in a similar universe; and it inspired me to write ‘Things We Dig’ in 2016. Pre-production followed quickly – cast, crew and location in place, even custom fangs for the actors had already been made. But then we lost the location and things went downhill quickly from there: a death in the family, my own sudden health scare and resulting surgery and financial woes. Production came to a screeching halt and it looked more unlikely this film would ever see the light of day, but I was still clinging to hope. Fast forward to late 2018 when my production designer Elsa Mickelsen texted me and suggested we use her family’s home as a location…if I was still interested! Let’s just say, the film came back from the dead!
Over the next few months she built the set inside their house and transformed it into a spectacular vampire den. I loved working with her using both our artistic talents and letting our dark ‘geek flag’ fly! I had always envisioned a hedonistic, lived-in habitat for the vampires with lots of rich colors, textures and fabrics, objects that might have been around for centuries with stories of their own. I drew from my own experience as an artist when I wrote and played the character ‘Kuni’; and Elsa created amazingly grotesque and twisted artwork for her, which is displayed all over the walls. The production design turned out better than I could have ever imagined.
Of course, because of the passage of time, a few actors had to be re-cast, which was both heartbreaking and energizing. Another result of the production delay was plenty of opportunity to find more props, hold more rehearsals with the actors adding some improv, which again lead to fine-tuning the script.
Finally, in 2019, we filmed the short over three days in San Diego, California. Post production and final edit was in early 2020.
Seeing my script come to life after all those obstacles on the road to production is still one of the best experiences I’ve ever had as a visual artist and I still can’t believe we made it happen. I’m so proud of my cast and crew and eternally grateful for their patience, faith and dedication!
Things We Dig is an ensemble film, a horror comedy that combines themes of friendship and solidarity, fear and creativity. It allows humor in darkness and anger. What is a horrific situation for one being is a sense of purpose for another. In the end, we’re all in this together. Everybody just wants to make it through the day… or night.
If the film makes you laugh in spite of yourself, then I have reached my goal.
Pia Thrasher
Her Dark Half 