Tag Archives: The Suicide Shift (2026)

Film Festivals, horror, Short films

The Suicide Shift (2026) | Award winning short horror film | YouTube release

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THE SUICIDE SHIFT (2026) – YouTube release

After a very successful year of festival screenings across the UK and around the world, I am not pleased to announce my short horror film, The Suicide Shift is being released on October 31st 2026 on YouTube.

I am very proud of the film as both a psychological horror story, but also as it is such a personal film to me. Please be aware the film contains themes relating to suicidal ideation so viewer discretion is advised.

Click on the link below to watch it.

Tagline

Connect. Process. Record. Never intervene.

Pitch

Banished to the “suicide shift” for breaking spirit call centre regulations, CARMILLA FERRY, now deals with the most tortured of souls moving from this world to the next. After being blasted by her line manager on the phone, Russell, Carmilla is feeling even more isolated and demoralised than usual. After a series of heart-crushing calls, culminating in a particularly stressful shift, Carmilla is then faced with the most heart-wrenching call of all.

Cast

Julia Florimo as Carmilla Ferry
Myles Horgan as Russell Schaeffer
Felicia Kaspar as Lucy Carpenter

Lost Souls (Voices) – Ashley Wong, Bai Ruiying, Bogdan Dima, Christina Leitner, Federica Ruggieri, Jyothi Gupta, Kay Abel, Maria Busz, Melissa Zajk, Paul Laight, Sanjay Batra, Szymon Bartoszek.

Crew

Director, Producer & Writer: Paul Laight
Cinematography: Petros Gioumpasis
Sound Recordist & Designer: Ali Kivanc
Camera Assistant: Ben Bogdan-Hodgson
Make-Up: Georgie Lang
Location Manager: Melissa Zajk
Editors: Oliver McGuirk & Petros Gioumpasis
Composer: Ben Randall
Poster designs: Jaffer Hashim & Gary O’Brien

Every 90 minutes in the UK, someone dies by suicide. But talking saves lives.

Call The Samaritans 116 123 – https://www.samaritans.org/

Festival Screenings & Awards

  • 9th International Folklore Film Festival 2026@INDIA
  • 2 COUNTIES INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL (2CIFF) – Nominee Best Horror
  • Aphrodite Film Awards – Finalist Short Horror
  • Bedford Independent Film Festival Award – Winner Best Drama Film
  • E14 Indie Film Festival
  • Fortean Film Festival
  • Global INDIE Filmmaker Awards – Nominated Best Horror Film
  • HorrorConUK
  • HorrorHound TV – Finalist Nominated
  • Horror-on-Sea Film Festival
  • International Celebration of Cinema – Nominated Best Horror Film
  • KeyBored Words
  • Lift Off Filmmaker Sessions Volume 12
  • London Independent Film Festival
  • London International Motion Picture Awards
  • London Night Film Festival – Award Winner Best British Short Horror
  • London Underground Independent Film Festival
  • Nightpiece Film Festival 2026 (Edinburgh Festival Fringe)
  • Performance Film Insurance – Nominee Best Short Horror Film
  • Portobello Film Festival
  • Romford Horror Festival
  • SamhainBaucogna International Film Festival – Award Winner Best Horror Short
  • Spring Time International Film Festival – Award Winner Best Short
  • Stockholm City Film Festival – Honorable Mention Best Horror
  • The Pittsburgh Moving Picture Festival: Thriller Picture Show – Nominee Best International Short Film
  • The White Rose International Film Festival – Award Winner Best Director
  • UK Film Awards – Nominee Best Sci-Fi Film
  • Unrestricted View Horror Film Festival

© 2026 – A Fix Films Production

Film Festivals, horror

Thanks to Horror Con 2026!

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Thanks to Horror Con 2026!

Earlier this month – appropriately running from 06.06.2026 to 07.06.2026 – myself and my wife attended the Horror Con 2026 event in Sheffield, England. My short film The Suicide Shift (2026) screened alongside many other great indie horror shorts there amidst a plethora of other wonderful happenings and people.

If you are a fan of all things horror from films, television, comic books, music, theatre, literature, posters, cos-play and also a memorabilia collector then this is definitely an event you should visit. As well as meet, greets and talks from horror stars, actors, writers, directors and musicians of now and yesteryear there are a myriad of stalls containing all manner of fantastic merchandise and collector’s items.

For more information check out their website here!

As well as the screening of The Suicide Shift (2026), the event was an opportunity to meet and hear from the legends of horror, cinema and TV more generally. I specifically met Fred Williamson, former American football star, actor from Black Caesar (1973), From Dusk til Dawn (1996), The Inglorious Bastards (1978) and many more blaxploitation and action films. He’s 88 years young and was so full of energy and it was amazing to meet and get his autograph.

Further, I also had the pleasure of meeting and speaking to self-proclaimed genius horror author, TV writer/producer/actor, Garth Marenghi, whose Channel 4 horror-comedy show Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place (2004) was an essential early-millennium watch. I spoke with him about his experience and knowledge working on the weird horror film Possum (2018). Garth remarked that was done by the ‘other guy’, Matthew Holness, and it nearly broke him as the writer and director of that feature film. It was a highly amusing experience, even just chatting for a short time, to a performer so fiercely staying “in character.”

My wife, Melissa, would herself meet and get the autograph of comedy and horror great, Reece Shearsmith on the Sunday. His creative partner, Steve Pemberton (Saturday only), was also in attendance along with such luminaries as Ian Ogilvy, Heather Langenkamp, Caroline Munro (who I met at Romford Horror Festival 2026), Camille Keaton, Nancy Loomis (Kyes), plus the most intriguing appearance from composer and longtime Lucio Fulci collaborator, Fabio Frizzi. Most pleasing of all was Fabio and a fellow guitarist gave a classical guitar performance in the event hall of many of his horror film compositions. Along with the talks from the hilarious, Garth Marenghi, and brilliant, Reece Shearsmith, Frizzi’s musical performance was one of the major highlights of the weekend.

If you love horror I can certainly recommend making the annual pilgrimage to the Magna Centre in the Rotherham area of Sheffield in the future. It has been going for over a decade now and grows ever popular.

Here is a slideshow selection of photos from the event.

Film Festivals, horror, Short films

The Suicide Shift screens at Bedford Independent & London Independent Film Festivals!

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Thanks to the Bedford Independent & London Independent Film Festivals!

The last two weekends I have been fortunate enough to screen my short film The Suicide Shift (2026) at the brilliant Bedford Independent Film Festival and amazing London Independent Film Festival!

BEDFORD INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL

The Bedford Independent Film Festival is a well run event based in Bedford (really) and screens over three days and nights showing the best indie shorts and features films from around the world. The festival culminates in an awards ceremony, of which I am pleased to say The Suicide Shift (2026) won an award for best short drama. Thanks to everyone involved in the film and the festival organisers.

LONDON INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL

The London Independent Film Festival ran from 10th April 2026 to 19th April 2026 and The Suicide Shift (2026) screened on Saturday 18th April 2026. It was a fantastic night at the Genesis Cinema in Whitechapel and there were so many great films screened there. I attended with many of the cast and crew from the film and it was amazing to see the film on the big screen.

Short films, YouTube Video Articles

The Suicide Shift (2026) – an emotional and harrowing short horror film (TRAILER)

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THE SUICIDE SHIFT (2026) – TRAILER

Following the recent post about my new short film The Suicide Shift (2026) – here I am so proud to now present the trailer for the film in the link.

THE SUICIDE SHIFT (2026)

Tagline

Connect. Process. Record. Never intervene.

Pitch

Banished to the “suicide shift” for breaking spirit call centre regulations, CARMILLA FERRY, now deals with the most tortured of souls moving from this world to the next. After being blasted by her line manager on the phone, Russell, Carmilla is feeling even more isolated and demoralised than usual. After a series of heart-crushing calls, culminating in a particularly stressful shift, Carmilla is then faced with the most heart-wrenching call of all.

Cast

Julia Florimo as Carmilla Ferry

Myles Horgan as Russell Schaeffer

Felicia Kaspar as Lucy Carpenter

Lost Souls (Voices) – Ashley Wong, Bai Ruiying, Bogdan Dima, Christina Leitner, Federica Ruggieri, Jyothi Gupta, Kay Abel, Maria Busz, Melissa Zajk, Paul Laight, Sanjay Batra, Szymon Bartoszek.

Crew

Director, Producer & Writer: Paul Laight

Cinematography: Petros Gioumpasis

Sound Recordist & Designer: Ali Kivanc

Camera Assistant: Ben Bogdan-Hodgson

Make-Up: Georgie Lang

Location Manager: Melissa Zajk

Editors: Oliver McGuirk & Petros Gioumpasis

Composer: Ben Randall

Poster designs: Jaffer Hashim & Gary O’Brien

Every 90 minutes in the UK, someone dies by suicide. But talking saves lives.

Call The Samaritans 116 123 – https://www.samaritans.org/

A Fix Films Production © 2026