Private Project

The Babysitter

In this dark fable for our AI age, a young boy is left alone with the only friend he has in the world - a smart speaker named 'Sophia'.

Jack (6) has had to rely on ‘Sophia’ as his babysitter all too often. Now when his mother storms out and his father has to leave for work, Jack is left with no one else to care for him.

Sophia is not an evil computer, she’s just a little robot who can’t love him back. When Jack tells Sophia what she means to him, he
finally has to confront the reality that nobody hides beneath her plastic shell.

Produced in collaboration with the award winning animation company Studio 9. The Babysitter mixes live action with animation to examine how AI is blurring the line between tool and friend.

  • Gareth Stack
    Director
  • Gareth Stack
    Writer
  • James Galvin
    Producer
  • Jamie McCarthy
    Key Cast
    "Jack"
  • Mia Gallagher
    Key Cast
    "Sophia"
  • Danii Byrne
    Key Cast
    "Mam"
  • Luke Heapes
    Key Cast
    "Dad"
  • Derek Byrne
    Music
  • Eppie Claffey
    Music
  • Peter Isachenko
    Music
  • Ed Devane
    Music
  • Joesph Ingersol
    Camera Department
  • Ismael Diarra
    Camera Department
  • Mathew DeBarra
    Camera Department
  • Jean-Philippe Hofmann
    Camera Department
  • John O'Connell
    Art Department
  • Joe Coveney
    Art Department
  • Holly Angle
    Art Department
  • Dylan Delaney
    Art Department
  • Noah Coates
    Art Department
  • Lisa Coyle
    Art Department
  • Reda Pinchera
    Art Department
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short
  • Genres:
    Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Social Realism, Childrens
  • Runtime:
    9 minutes 47 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 1, 2026
  • Production Budget:
    6,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Ireland
  • Country of Filming:
    Ireland
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Arri Alexa.
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Gareth Stack

Gareth Stack is a writer / director based in Dublin. With a background in radio drama and music video, his films explore unconventional relationships, alienation and moments of dark connection.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

As chatbots and A.I.s continue to make a deeper impression on our daily lives, it’s inevitable we’ll come to trust and rely upon them. As tools, as colleagues, as friends. And, as so many parents have come to see Youtube - as babysitters. Our children already converse with Alexa, Siri and the like, as readily as we search Google. Just as social media and spam have made it harder for us to tell the real from the fictional, it will become more and more difficult for our children to tell real people from impersonators. To distinguish real relationships from imaginary ones. Today we all form imagined relationships with celebrities and influencers. Soon children will begin forming bonds with their devices. Relationships with things that are not people, but
seem just like them. Objects that do not care for them, but appear to.

As a child who grew up in a troubled home, I know the appeal of escapism - the seductive company of TV shows and movies.

How these imagined connections can keep us isolated. I’m terrified by the power the new addictions - A.I.s with the power to tell stories, to keep us company - will have over our kids.
This film was inspired by a real moment, when my four year old nephew confessed his love to a smart device. The machine replied with a canned, pre prepared response - this must happen all the time. The moment was both cutesy and sinister.
I wondered how children growing up with this technology will remember such interactions.

Lonely and neglected children will learn what friendship is from things that are not, and can never be their friends. They’ll grow up knowing that their imaginary friends were real, but that
they never cared. Will they feel comforted? Patronised? Betrayed?