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Hot Young Geek Seeks Blood-Sucking Freak
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Aim
fighting off a vampire is hard. coming out is harder. A short Scottish comedy-horror film about pizza, the undead, & queer flatmates 😵🦇
HOT YOUNG GEEK SEEKS BLOOD-SUCKING FREAK is a short film about vampires, pizza, and coming out. When best friends Max and Ricky finds themselves the prey of an angry vampire, they must ditch their Halloween plans to hide out at home. But when a forgotten pizza delivery shows up, can they risk letting the driver in? Can they stop arguing with each other? And can Max find the courage to face the one thing worse than death - coming out?
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A FlowerPunk Films production, in association with Bombito Productions, Scottish Queer International Film Festival, and The National Lottery Community Fund. Produced by myself, written & directed by the wickedly talented Heath Virgoe.
A fizzy comedy-horror about being young, queer, and anxious, HOT YOUNG GEEK SEEKS BLOOD-SUCKING FREAK is a full-sprint comic-book romp through online role-play, platform boots and garlic bread, inspired by everything from Cary Grant to John Waters to Parker Posey.
This is a coming out story aiming to be different from the archetypal ‘coming out story’. Where narratives about queer discovery tend towards cliche and stereotype, this film looks to breathe fresh life into how genuinely silly that experience can be. What better time to come out, than when a vampire is knocking at your door?
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Back in December 2023, we had the opportunity to pitch our project to a panel at Scottish Queer International Film Festival, who kindly granted £500 of funding towards our project via The National Lottery Community Fund. Alongside this, our producer and director have pitched together their own funds, putting an additional £1000 into the pot.
However, to create the best film that we can, we are looking to raise additional funds. Through this crowdfunder, we are hoping to raise £1700 to fully realise our budget - and this is where we need your help!
This is a micro-budget film, all of our crew are coming together to donate their free time to the production - and so a large portion of our budget will go towards making sure they can get to and from set, and feeding them while they’re there!
Any size of donation will help us out, and we are so incredibly grateful for any support you can give. Even a £5 contribution goes SUCH a long way, and has a direct effect on our shoot - for example, feeding one of our actors on set for the day, or reimbursing a crew member’s bus fare.
With any and all donations, you will receive our special thanks in the film’s credits, a social media shoutout and a link to the film upon completion. For higher amounts, we have some really exciting rewards - including a direct contribution to the film’s set dressing, exclusive access to behind-the-scenes content such as the director’s script and on-set video diaries, and an invitation to join us for a special screening once the film is complete.
We understand it is a difficult time at the moment, but you can help us in so many ways! If you can’t donate, we would really appreciate a share on social media so that our film can reach larger audiences. Or if you don't use social media, just tell a friend, or people at work, or shout about it at the pub! Just point them towards hotyounggeek.com. Any kind of support is appreciated!
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Producer & Writer / Director
Niamh West (she/her) is an Irish writer/producer based in Scotland. Niamh has founded FlowerPunk Films, a production company which champions female, femme and queer stories. Niamh’s work spans a variety of genres and tones from a coming-of-age story about Scottish teenagers to a workplace drama set in a mannequin delicatessen. Her film HANGNAIL is currently on the festival circuit, most recently playing at the Belfast Film Festival and receiving an honourable mention at the Women X Film Festival.
Heath Virgoe (they/them) is a queer writer-director based in Scotland. At the age of six they discovered Doctor Who, and have never been the same since. Their film Kitchen Sink Fantasy premiered at BFI Flare London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, and has since screened at Encounters Short Film Festival, Scottish Queer International. Film Festival, Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and Glasgow Short Film Festival.
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Executive Producer
Reece Cargan (he/him) has produced numerous award winning shorts and has multiple fiction features, documentaries and TV series in commissioned development, and is passionate about working with and turning up the volume of the next generation of queer UK talent, with a focus on intersectional LGBTQIA+ stories & voices.
BOMBITO is a Scottish film production company set up by producer Reece Cargan in 2017. Following successes with commissioned short films and documentaries, Bombito has multiple fiction and documentary features in funded development and are actively developing their TV slate.
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Jacob Gandy (they/them) is a cinematographer from Sheffield who is currently based in Glasgow. They mainly work as a freelance filmmaker, specialising in shooting music videos and documentaries. Most recently they were shortlisted for the Canon & CVP's Stories in Motion cinematography competition. They have a passion for creating captivating images, are inspired by the films of Edward Yang, and enjoy taking long walks on the beach.
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Laura Bercebal Armero (she/her) is a Spanish production designer based in Edinburgh. With an interest in bold and striking set design, she has worked on numerous short films and music videos. For the past three years, she has been a content creator for Shortscape Film Festival, a short film festival centred around young Scottish creatives.
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Nina Barrett is an editor, currently working as a post-production assistant in Glasgow. They studied Film and Television at the University of Glasgow before specialising in editing on the MA Film course at Edinburgh Napier University.
Notable credits for short films which have played worldwide include “ST HOPE” (SQIFF 2021) and “Kitchen Sink Fantasy” (BFI Flare 2023, Encounters 2023, and SQIFF 2023). Nina is looking to focus their passions on bringing projects to life which illuminate underrepresented issues and ways of living.
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Maddy Reay is a Sound Recordist/Designer from West Lothian. Known for her goth outfits, mad ideas and tendency to cry at almost any film, when she is not in the sound studio, she is directing. Most recently, Maddy’s short film ‘Elsewhere’ has wrapped up post-production and will be shooting off into its festival circuit. Maddy also dips her fingers into many other film pies. Previously, she has ADed shorts including ‘The Grief That Stole Christmas' and 'The Hollow Men.
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We’re grateful for any support you can give – this is a project that means the world to us! Just as the little expenses add up for the creation of our production, every little bit helps us to fund it - and if you're not able to contribute, don't worry! An excellent way to support the project is by sharing this page on social media, with friends, family, and colleagues. Just point them towards hotyounggeek.com!
It’s so vital to keep telling LGBTQ+ stories in the current political and social climate, and even more so to create representation for those questioning themselves and their place in the world. We exist! You exist! Vampires - maybe not, but under the supernatural silliness, this is a true story.
A big THANK YOU from the crew of HYGSBSF x
This project successfully funded on 12th April 2024