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The Blue Room

"It's like Lynch, Five Nights at Freddy's, and Lovecraft had a hideous lovechild."
—Roberto Martinez

David Chen is head of security in a mysterious research facility. His only respite from the long nights of crushing boredom are his conversations with Isaiah Kellar, a scientist who claims he can do magic. The two converse over an intercom, amusing each other with bad jokes until more sinister developments occur. Can Chen solve the mystery before the trap closes?

  • Jesse Livingston
    Director
  • Jesse Livingston
    Writer
  • Michael Prince
    Producer
  • Michael Chen
    Key Cast
    ""David Chen""
    Nickels and Dimes, Ghouls, Trusted
  • Nick Ellingson
    Key Cast
    "Isaiah Keller"
  • Eryn McGarry
    Key Cast
    "Laura Chen"
    "Haunted" - Netflix
  • Lauren Funk
    Key Cast
    "Creature/Voice/Assistant"
  • Eryn McGarry
    Production Manager
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Horror, Thriller, Psychological
  • Runtime:
    27 minutes 48 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 14, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • COFOH Presents: Reel Horrors Film Fest
    Denver
    United States
    September 13, 2025
    world premiere
    Best Debut Film
Director Biography - Jesse Livingston

Jesse Livingston is an author and musician from Denver, CO. In addition to writing non-fiction articles for local and national publications, his fiction has appeared in audio magazines such as Pseudopod and The Drabblecast. The Blue Room is his first film.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The seed of the weird tree that is The Blue Room came to me when I found a giant playing card leaning against the dumpster in back of my apartment building. I immediately had a vision of a man sitting alone in a room and a voice saying, “Is THIS your card?” Like all the best flashes of inspiration, the story came to me surprisingly quickly after that. A little research into the history of stage magic, and the rest seemed to write itself.

I’ve spent the better part of my life absorbing every horror story I could. Cinematically, my heroes are Lynch, Hitchcock, Carpenter, and Cronenberg. Behind them are the inscrutable horrors of H.P. Lovecraft and Robert W. Chambers.

The conceit of two characters conversing over an intercom kept the film’s budget low and logistics manageable. The shoot went more smoothly than it had a right to for a group of first-timers (although a month of intense planning definitely helped). However, the film would never have made it without the sheer luck that allowed us to find our two leads, Michael Chen and Nick Ellingson. It felt like fate when we first heard these guys read together. Their chemistry is astonishing, and they took the characters further than I could’ve hoped for.

I also could never have finished this project without the constant inspiration of our producer Michael Prince, the dedication of our production manager Eryn “Scary” McGarry, and the remarkable talent of our art director Kenton Visser whose beautiful paintings and animation give the film a hypnotic atmosphere.

If you like suspenseful, surreal stories that feel like a trap slowly closing, then this film is for you. I hope it will convey that feeling you get when you’ve just seen a magic trick that’s completely impossible. Suddenly everything feels unreal, and you wonder for a few moments if you’re really living in the world you thought you were. If you’re lucky, you’ll find your way back to reality. If not, you may find out what it’s like to meet gods who wear masks and hide in the dark, and they may tell you: “When we speak, it’s always tonight.”