The Shift

A working-class father and his daughter making food deliveries become trapped in a high-society home, forced to confront a horrifying secret that threatens both their lives and their bond

Project type: Fiction Short
Project status: Development
Writer/Director: Joey Long
Producer: Ashley M. George
Producer: Nik Dodani
 
Website: www.cosmicpom.com
 
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Logline

A working-class father and his daughter making food deliveries become trapped in a high-society home, forced to confront a horrifying secret that threatens both their lives and their bond.

Synopsis

Sara, a sharp and determined fifteen-year-old, spends the day helping her dad deliver food orders around the city in their aging minivan. When they take a delivery to a mysterious mansion far outside town, the lighthearted rhythm of their shift is disrupted. Sara waits in the van. And waits. Her father never comes back.Worried, she steps out of the vehicle and cautiously approaches the mansion. The silence inside is deafening. What begins as a search for her dad quickly turns into a fight for survival.

Inside the mansion, Sara discovers an eerie medical room and a glowing red body bag containing her unconscious father. Before she can react, a second body bag bursts open, revealing the elderly homeowner, now grotesquely muscular and radiating unnatural energy. As the monstrous Old Man begins live-streaming his “transformation,” Sara hides and watches him storm out of the house. Once he’s gone, she revives her dad and helps him escape. But the Old Man returns, stronger than ever. A harrowing struggle follows as Sara and her father attempt to flee. Their only chance of survival lies in Sara’s courage and her ability to finally take the wheel — literally and figuratively — before the Old Man consumes them both.

Sara speeds away with her injured father in the passenger seat. The mansion fades behind them, but the terror still lingers. Her hands tremble on the wheel as she pulls over to catch her breath.The sun sets. Her dad, though alive, has visibly aged. Years lost in a single hour. Sara looks at her reflection in the mirror, no longer a child. She shifts into drive and pulls back onto the road, changed forever. No longer just a passenger in life. She’s in control now. And there’s no turning back.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Joey Long — Writer/Director
Joey Long has been making independent short films for nearly a decade, screening them at hundreds of film festivals around the world, and winning numerous awards in the process. For example, A Purgatory Story premiered at Cleveland International Film Festival, where it won “Best Midnight Short”. It also won “Best Original Screenplay” at the legendary sci-fi/fantasy/horror festival FilmQuest, currently has millions of views on multiple platforms, and qualified for the 92nd annual Academy Awards. Most recently, Joey’s short film Box Boy screened locally at the NOVA Fest to a sold out theater, bringing home the awards for “Best Soundscape” and “Most Inspiring Film.”

Ashley George — Producer
Ashley George is an experienced creative & line producer with expertise in film, TV, and commercial/branded production and distribution. She has worked on projects ranging from independent to studio-backed ventures (A&E Networks, Culture House, Alcon Entertainment), handling budgets between $50K and $3M+. Recent producing credits include: Supervising Producer for The Proof Is Out There (A+E/History Channel), Line Producer on Artifacts and After the Deluge (Shorts), Production Manager for Outlaw: The Saga of Afeni & Tupac Shakur (FX), and Archival Producer for Growing Up (Disney+).

Nik Dodani — Producer
Nik Dodani is best known as an actor, particularly for his role as Zahid in the Netflix series, Atypical, as well as for roles in Murphy Brown, Dear Evan Hansen, Waitress on Broadway, Lee Isaac Chung’s Twisters, and most recently as the lead of the HBO Max, The Parenting, opposite Lisa Kudrow, Brian Cox, and Parker Posey. As a writer, Nik started in stand-up comedy and made his late-night debut on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He then went on to work in the political and non-profit world, writing and directing for groups like MoveOn.org, Alicia Keys’ HIV/AIDS initiative, and various electoral campaigns. Nik has previously developed half-hour comedies for Disney and Netflix. Most recently, Nik was a co-producer of Life of Pi on Broadway and serves as co-producer for the North American tour; wrote and directed a short film adaptation of the award winning novel Blue Boy; and directed a documentary short, Houston Rising, for Amazon.

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Contact

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