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Chris Stuckmann, the filmmaker behind the new horror movie Shelby Oaks, opened up about the emotional rollercoaster of getting the film across the finish line after literally running out of money, until Neon stepped in to help.
In an interview with DiscussingFilm, Stuckmann recalled just how dire things got during production.
“The way it went down was we literally ran out of money. We’re a record-breaking Kickstarter, but we made the movie for what most people in Hollywood would call pennies, and there were ideas in my script that never came to fruition.”
Shelby Oaks centers on a woman, played by Camille Sullivan, who believes her sister, missing for 12 years after investigating paranormal activity in the town of Shelby Oaks, is still alive.
Stuckmann revealed that financial limits forced him to abandon several moments he had envisioned for the story.
“There were scenes, entire scenes, that we’d had to drop, and when Neon acquired the film they asked for a copy of my script and they got back to me and they were like, ‘Hey, I mean, we read it and there’s some things in here that aren’t in the movie. Why not?’ Time and money, man, what do you think?”
Thanks to Neon’s support, Stuckmann was able to revisit his vision and complete what he started.
“So we got to go back for three more days and do the things that, in my head, I had already abandoned. It’s a very painful experience to give up those things that you were very excited about doing.
“I mean, I was in tears, man, because I got to go back and do a couple of things that I always wanted to be in this movie, and it was a dream come true.”
Shelby Oaks marks Stuckmann’s feature directorial debut, but fans have followed his work for years. Before stepping behind the camera, he gained a massive following as a YouTube film critic, reviewing movies since 2009.
His transition into filmmaking became one of Kickstarter’s biggest success stories, raising nearly $1.4 million in 2022 and becoming the platform’s most-funded horror movie.
Neon, the same distributor behind acclaimed horror hits like Longlegs, The Monkey, and Anora, officially acquired Shelby Oaks in July 2024 and provided the additional funds that made Stuckmann’s creative vision whole.
The film is now playing in US theaters.
