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Logline

A charismatic serial killer goes on his dream date with his dream victim. But little does he know…. she has plans of her own.

Synopsis

SIMON is hot. Simon is charming. Simon likes good red wine and calls his mother every Sunday.On weekends, Simon likes to go out with pretty girls, strangle them, and gouge out their eyes.

Red Velvet takes place over one of those dates. Simon – gorgeous, charismatic, confident – enters the home of MIA, a bubbly, charming young woman. Mia is a dream – she cooks, she bakes, she pours herself into a red velvet mini dress. Simon can’t wait to jam his knife into her.The evening begins as planned. Mia and Simon flirt and cook and eat and drink. All the while, Simon grips his knife below the table, antsy for his big moment. But then, the evening hits a snag. Over Mia’s decadent velvet cake, she reveals she knows everything. Who he is and why he’s here. Turns out, Simon hasn’t planned this night for Mia…. Mia’s planned it for him. And just like that, Simon’s dream girl becomes his worst nightmare.

As the tension stretches to its breaking point, one question launches us into our final, bloody climax: will Mia fall prey to this deadly killer after all? Or will Simon finally get his just desserts?
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Haley Hope Bartels – Writer/Director
Haley Hope (she/her) is an Academy Nicholl fellow for her original screenplay Pumping Black, which placed second on the Black List in 2022. Academy Award nominee Stacey Sher is producing. Her horror feature, The Great God Pan, was selected for the 2021 Blood List. She is currently penning original features for both Amazon Studios and 100 Zeroes. She is a graduate of UCLA and received her MFA in screenwriting from the American Film Institute. Her religious beliefs revolve around cinema, Ray Bradbury, and the healing power of cold dog noses.

Liz Daering-Glass — Producer
Liz Daering-Glass is a writer and producer based outside of Columbus, Ohio. She premiered the feature Forge at SXSW 2025 to rave reviews from Variety and IndieWire. She recently wrapped production on her second feature, Progeny.

Previously, Liz worked at the Sundance Institute on the Collab and Festival teams. She was a digital marketing producer at The Walt Disney Company, contributing to the global campaign for Avatar 2: The Way of Water. She also worked in feature development at DreamWorks Animation, where she served as a judge for ScreenCraft’s Animation Competition. Liz holds a degree in History of Art from Johns Hopkins University and earned her MFA in Producing from the American Film Institute Conservatory. Her credits include The Croods: A New Age, Spirit Untamed, Trolls Holiday Special, and The Boss Baby: Family Business.

Gabrielle Cordero — Producer
Gabrielle Cordero is a Mexican-American producer from the Bay Area and an AFI Producing graduate (2019). Her short films Big Touch and Elle premiered at the 2020 Rhode Island International Film Festival, where Elle won the Marlyn Mason Award. She has been selected for HBO/HFPA’s Tomorrow’s Filmmakers Today (2019, 2020), NALIP’s Latino Lens Incubator (2021), and is a PGA Diversity Workshop alum. She co-created Gringas with Christina Kingsleigh Licud and sold a show to Hulu’s Onyx Collective. Gabrielle recently produced her feature debut, Forge, that premiered at SXSW 2025, and is in post-production on the sci-fi feature, Progeny. She is currently taking part in Film Independent’s 2025 Producing Lab for her next feature film, Altrove.

Haley Min Young Kreofsky— Director of Photography
Haley Min Young Kreofsky is a Korean American cinematographer with a passion for stories about flawed humans trying to navigate the world. Driven by her interest in visual storytelling, Kreofsky received her MFA in Cinematography from the American Film Institute. Beginning her film career in the grip and electric departments, Kreofsky has since worked on documentary films and branded and commercial content for Levis, Venmo, Shutterstock, Cutter, Repel, and Alo Yoga. She has worked on numerous narrative projects—her MFA thesis film A Butterfly Vanishes was nominated for an American Society of Cinematographers Student Heritage Award—and with executive producers like Daniel Dubecki (Thank You for Smoking, Juno, Up in the Air) and Amy Anioboi (Insecure). Other than having her work on BOOOOOOOM.TV, DisArt, and VICE, her work has been displayed at Centre D’art Contemporain in Geneva, Switzerland and the MoMa in New York. Kreofsky’s creative and technical range also extends to film photography. Her work has been featured in a range of diverse locales, from an art gallery in Florence, Italy to the album cover of indie artist Gordi’s ‘‘Like Plasticine.’ Her extensive skill set and diverse work experience has given her expertise in shooting on both motion picture film (Super 8, 16mm, and 35mm) and digital formats. Kreofsky values collaboration and staying true to the director’s vision while using her skills to amplify the story being told.

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Contact

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