Experiencing Interruptions?

Toy Vlog Hunt

Just a regular toy vlogger stalking the aisles of your local store as usual, beware.

  • Stephen Escudero
    Director
  • Stephen Escudero
    Writer
  • Dani Edghill
    Writer
  • Derrick Mustelier
    Writer
  • Stephen Escudero
    Producer
  • Dani Edghill
    Producer
  • Derrick Mustelier
    Producer
  • Stephen Escudero
    Key Cast
    "Vlogger"
  • Derrick Mustelier
    Key Cast
    "Shopper/Victim"
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short
  • Genres:
    satire, horror, comedy
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes 1 second
  • Completion Date:
    March 1, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    100 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Iphone
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Stephen Escudero

Stephen Escudero is from the mean streets of Kendall in Miami, Florida. He is the youngest of four sons, raised by Cuban-American immigrant parents, and television. He loves comic books, horror movies, wrestling, his 4 dogs and his wife. Stephen works full-time as an AV Engineer, but has always dreamed of being a writer/director filmmaker like his childhood heroes Robert Rodriguez, Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, and Guillermo Del Toro. Stephen attended Conchita Espinosa Conservatory of the Arts as a child, where he first discovered acting under the tutelage of Luz Clara Diaz, who had previously worked with Stephen's Grand-Uncle actor Florencio Escudero, who tragically died in an accident on stage in Cuba. Stephen attended Coral Reef Senior High magnet school for Theatre and received an English Degree from Florida International University. He is consistently working on his films, scripts, podcasts and a comic book universe. Stephen is currently working on his first feature film.

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Director Statement

We live in an age where deranged shooters kill en masse, live-streaming the footage to a captive audience; where YouTube pranksters are shot trying to make content with the unsuspecting public; where Americans don’t have universal access to mental health care and content creators will do the most shocking and scandalous things to get the most eyeballs and clicks. Whose eyeballs? Whose clicks? Anyone can post content online, held back only by the limits of their imagination. Everything is broadcast online, deaths, car crashes, stabbings, shootings, all a search away, all monetized and commercialized. A generation of children raised at the whim of the algorithm. All Internet users subject to the same messages of capitalism, misogyny, body shaming, hate, violence, and divisiveness.

Internet content is often a mirror to the horrors of our real world. In our time found footage has become a quintessential avenue to portray these horrors. With this film, I want to provoke the audience and their conception of what is cinema, cloaked in the guise of "content" that seems innocuous enough. I use the grindhouse/slasher genre as inspiration and explore the values of these types of divisive characters who parrot toxic rhetoric by taking something as innocent as toys on a shelf and twisting it into something sinister. I want the viewer to think of my Vlogger next time they are in a toy aisle; to confront what type of content they enjoy on the internet. This film was made for a grand total of less than $100 dollars and shot completely with an iPhone 13. Hopefully my film disturbs you. If this film doesn’t make you uncomfortable about the world and time you live in, maybe you’re caught in the wrong algorithm....