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It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

I was absolutely delighted to see this stunner of a short from Monica Suriyage during last year’s Ax Wound Film Festival. When Milagro (Cheyenne Washington), an adoptee, receives disappointing news in searching for her birth parents, her boyfriend Davis (Michael Bonini) decides to take her on a getaway camping trip. Neither could anticipate what they’d find out in the woods—about each other and themselves. The film takes inspiration from la ciguapa, mythological beings in Dominican folklore described as dark women with long hair and backward-facing feet who dwell in the high mountains. Her origins (whether native Taino, African, European, or Nahuatl/Central American) are widely contested, but as is often the case, she’s considered something of a monster: simultaneously a seductress and an omen of death.

The anthology will be tied together with a wraparound piece, directed by the project’s EP Natasha Halevi. The segments comprising the anthology come from filmmakers including Valerie Finkel, Megan Rosati, Bonnie Discepolo, Monica Moore-Suriyage, Meg Swertlow, Loren Escandon, Francesca Maldonado, Avital Ash, Erica Wright, Mary C. Russell, Danin Jacquay, Sarah Kopkin, Hannah Alline and Caitlin Hargraves. Writers on the project included Lexx Fusco, Annie Bond, Savannah Rose Scaffe, Rowan Fitzgibbon, Danielle Aufiero and Laura Covelli.

The Gold Audience Award went to Give Me An A directors Natasha Halevi, Meg Swertlow, Bonnie Discepolo, Danin Jacquay, Annie Bond, Sarah Kopkin, Monica Moore-Suryiage, Caitlin Hargraves, Megan Rosati, Hannah Alline, Avital Ash, Mary C. Russell, Valerie Finkel, Kelly Nygaard, Loren Escandon and Francesca Maldonado.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in partnership with the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF), introduces the 2022 Academy Film Accelerator, a five-week program that will provide filmmakers from Latinx communities with education, resources and mentorship focused on the business of filmmaking. The Los Angeles-based program will begin in June and guide 10 select participants in how to navigate the entertainment industry and build an awareness of the business skills required to get a film to the screen.

The cohort is composed of LALIFF award-winning filmmakers and Inclusion Fellowship recipients. The program is part of Aperture 2025, the Academy’s ongoing commitment to inclusion, representation and equity, and is supported by TelevisaUnivision’s new global streaming service, ViX.

DeThe fellows are Lorena Durán, Justin Floyd, Kase Peña, Monica Suriyage and Tamara Shogaolu. Each will be awarded a $20,000 grant to produce a short, along with individualized mentorship, one-on-one meetings with industry leaders, and other networking opportunities. Their completed films will premiere at next year’s LALIFF. Netflix will also offer support to the filmmakers throughout the development of their films.scription goes here

Get Out writer-director Jordan Peele and Candyman star Tony Todd are two of the movie notables interviewed in a new documentary called Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror, EW can exclusively reveal. Horror Noire is based on the book of the same name by Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman and takes a critical look at a century of genre films that by turns utilized, caricatured, exploited, sidelined, and embraced both black filmmakers and black audiences. Horror Noire is the first original feature documentary from Shudder and will premiere exclusively on the horror- and thriller-streaming service Feb. 7 after special screening events in New York and Los Angeles earlier in the month.

I have been that painfully awkward girl who tried to get the guy of my affection to notice me. More times than I care to admit. Looking back, I think I would've loved a funhouse of terror, 28 Days Later-like, infectious outbreak to distract me from the neurosis of how hopeless pining for someone who doesn't even notice you has made us all feel at times. Watching Meryl (Chelsey Colosimo) stumble her way in a Argento lit, house party to finally (hopefully) get it in with Davey (Shaun Sutton) takes the complete plunge when carnage threatens their livelihood. Director and writer Monica Moore-Suriyage (@monicatweetsnow) has captured this universally insecure moment with a pleasantly gross origin story of a zombie apocalypse in her short, Black In Red Out.

Black In Red Out is Monica's first film fresh out of college. And honestly, I'm shocked. Along with a great crew and actors who sincerely embraced both the action and emotion of the story, under Monica's tutelage, Black In Red Out comes off as seasoned, indie promise that this is an artist to keep an eye on. The film was produced under Monica's own production company, Body Checker that's off to a strong start with a dedicated network in Los Angeles.

When Black In Red Out screened at the Ax Wound Film Festival last November, the audience was just as excited and squirmy because as a narrative, truly does something refreshing despite zombie fatigue with clever homages to what's familiar. I talked to Monica, fellow-Temple University alum about horror firsts, how being on camera is making her a better director, and upcoming projects featuring some supernatural mishaps.

Gotta say, that when I saw the e-mail from Monica Suriyage hit our site's inbox, I got giddy. As a recent fan of hers (thanks in part to the trailer for the film we're reviewing here) and also being one of the lovely ladies spotlighted on our Women in Horror Month banner, the prospect of getting the opportunity to finally review her horror short Black in Red Out was definitely something to be excited about. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the film itself has been on the receiving end of a few awards and critical praise; I couldn't wait to dive in.