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Logline

A fictional documentary crew takes a peek behind the screams at a fading haunted attraction, where three eccentric employees compete to become the next owner… but with dysfunctional staff, acts of sabotage, and a mysterious clown terrorizing the haunt, can they even survive the season?

Synopsis

Horror Lives Here! is a horror-comedy mockumentary set behind the scenes of a crumbling New England haunted attraction, McManor Manor, during its 50th season.

The documentary crew follows three eccentric employees on their campaign to inherit the Manor from its retiring owners: DERREK, the overly optimistic, and very easily frightened General Manager of the Manor; DARLENE the Manor’s fiery, no-nonsense costume designer and oldest employee; and MIKE, an egotistical, self-appointed acting coach, ready to enter his director’s era. Who has what it takes to be the next owner?

The workplace descends into chaos over the course of the halloween season: angry protestors, acts of sabotage, and a potentially supernatural Green Clown on the loose, threatens the entire future of the Manor. Can the crew put aside their differences and come together to save the Haunt, and their chosen family?

What results is a film with the spooky whimsy and absurdist humor of What We Do In the Shadows, mixed with the competitive ruthlessness of Best in Show and the workplace drama of the Office.

At the heart of this story is the importance of community, one that embraces and celebrates your weirdest, wackiest, darkest parts of yourself. It is a darkly funny examination of our interest in scaring and being scared, how we can reclaim fear to heal ourselves (and others), and what it really means to have a chosen family.

Meet the Filmmakers

Danica Jensen — Writer/Director/Producer
Danica Jensen is a Danish-American stage & screen director, performer, & amateur ghost hunter. She grew up in a haunted house, and as such, is particularly interested in ghost stories and the things (physical or otherwise) that haunt us.

Danica is a graduate of NYU Tisch and an alumni of The Nine Muses Entertainment Lab, mentored by Bryce Dallas Howard. She was a finalist for the Tisch Sesame Street Video Commission with her partner Baldur Thor, with whom she co-founded Lab Partners Productions. She regularly works as a production assistant for television shows on HBO, Paramount+, Showtime & more. She is a proud member of WIF (Women In Film) and FilmShop US, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Provincetown Film Society.

Past film work includes: Get You Better (short, PIFF 2024), A Life in a Day 2020 (Sundance 2021, co-director), Burt’s Electronics (HUDSYtv, upcoming), What Are They Doing in the Shadows?! (short), DAVE (short). In theatre: Take it Away, Cheryl (Edinburgh Fringe Festival), Next To Normal (Off-Broadway), Hyacinth and Apollo (Dixon Place NYC), 1518: A Rock Opera (Center at West Park).

Logan Floyd — Director of Photography
Logan Floyd is an award-winning cinematographer based in Los Angeles. He holds an MFA from AFI in Cinematography. Capturing meaningful stories is what Logan is always searching for. He moves through the feature film, documentary, music video, and commercial worlds, prioritizing creative collaboration and bringing to all his projects a sensitive use of light and movement when capturing a director’s vision. Logan’s work has played internationally, including Tribeca, BFI, and Cannes. Most recently, Logan shot the feature film Poser which is available to stream on Showtime, as well as Apple TV and Amazon for rental and purchase.

Baldur Thor — Producer
Baldur Thor is an Icelandic-American producer, director and actor who graduated from NYU Tisch with a degree in Drama. His film work includes Feral State (hulu), iMordecai (Amazon Prime) and the upcoming Handball. During the pandemic, Baldur returned to Iceland to work on the TV show Verbudin with the theatre group Vesturport. More recently he worked on the Icelandic drama, Reykjavik Fusion, by ACT4, who have served as his producing mentors since. His directorial work includes; a short film What Are They Doing in the Shadows?!, a Mockumentary about an ABBA loving Vampire, and music video Famous by SIF SAGA, which recently played the Cindependent Film Festival.

Baldur launched his production company Lab Partners Productions with his lab partner, Danica Jensen in 2024. They have since produced two music videos, and their award winning short, Get You Better, that has been at several festivals including Provincetown Film Festival and Fargo.

Camila Grimaldi — Producer
Camila Grimaldi (she/her) is an Argentine-American filmmaker based in Brooklyn. She co-founded the independent production company Ser Nocturna with her producing partner Arielle Friedman. Under the Ser Nocturna banner, she produced award-winning short films that screened at Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, and Woodstock Film Festival, among others. She also produced music videos for Sarah Kinsley, ivri, Ella Hunt, James the Seventh, and Natalie Jane which have reached more than 13.5 million people. Camila is a 2023 Film Independent Producing Lab Fellow.

Her directing debut Breadwinner, a horror short film about a blood-thirsty sourdough starter, had screenings at HollyShorts and at the Museum of Moving Image before launching online on Short of the Week and the horror-only platform Alter.

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Contact

For inquiries, please contact fiscalsponsorship@filmindependent.org.