"ATTICUS" Indie Short Horror Filmmaking Debut

Hey, we are Nicholas Sampson and Kieton Beilby, an actor/producer team from Sydney, Australia, and ATTICUS is our debut short horror film!

ATTICUS is a story of paranoia, escapism and friendship. Three housemates wake up in the middle of the night to scratching in the walls, and after a psychedelic witching hour party, their friendships and sanity are tested.

As a completely independent production, we are set to distribute the film to audiences worldwide via the festival circuit. This film is an invaluable milestone as Kieton Beilby’s directorial/filmmaking debut and Nicholas Sampson’s filmmaking debut.

ATTICUS is a pure passion project; we have many talented people volunteering their time to bring this project to life. We are currently in pre-production, shooting in Glebe, Sydney, in the third week of November 2022.

We need your help covering the cost of hiring gear and equipment, catering, insurance and post-production services. Any donation is welcome.

*No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or promotions are offered in exchange for any donations made to our GoFundMe

You can also support us by watching our YouTube videos and checking out our Instagrams, Nicholas Sampson / Kieton Beilby. The more funds we can raise, the better gear we can hire! All money raised will go to production costs; Kieton and Nick will keep no money for personal use.

Here is a breakdown of how we will spend the money:

Please let me introduce you to some of our cast and crew!

Nicholas Sampson – Atticus/Producer

Nicholas, originally from Melbourne, Australia, has recently finished working on the feature film Wog Boy Forever. The film is set for a theatrical release in 2022 and stars creator Nick Giannopoulos. His debut was in the short film 'Slapper' directed by Luci Schroder, playing the role of Rat-tail Dazza. He has worked on various music videos, including 'The Whoopie Cats - Gentle goodbye.' Nicholas has taken various acting classes, including the Chubbuck technique and work with Anthony Brandon Wong. Nicholas is currently working on the short film “Atticus” and will also take on the title role of Atticus in the project. The part of Atticus was written and created specifically for him by Omad Productions.

Kieton Beilby – Director/Producer

Kieton is an actor and voice artist from Sydney, Australia. He has recently starred in short films: “TORMENT” directed by Daniel Watson and “G.O.L.E.M Half/Human” directed by Menachem Spielman. And commercials for Amazon Prime, Mcdonald's and Samsung. When he’s not in front of the camera, he is behind the microphone, recording commercials for brands such as PepsiCo, Kraken Rum, KFC, Westpac and many more. Kieton’s passion for film goes beyond acting; he has written a feature-length script, developed content for YouTube and filmed a short Noir story about his cat Archie. Currently, he is developing a short Horror film Atticus with actor/producer Nicholas Sampson.

Ryan Hance – Jacob

Ryan Hance is an Australian Actor best known for Danger Close (2019), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017) and Mako: Island of Secrets (2015). Ryan graduated from The Performing Arts Conservatory in Brisbane with an Advanced Film and Stage Acting Diploma. He is represented by Helen Pandos Management. Ryan is a graduated actor who currently resides in Sydney, Australia. He's appeared in several feature films, short films, TVC and television productions - most recently acting in the Australian feature film 'Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan' and in Warner Bro's Movie World Fright Nights commercial. He is passionate about the art of acting and developing his craft while focusing a lot of his time and energy into creating new projects and continuing to challenge himself.

Alexander Osmond – Mason

Alex Osmond is a dynamic young film and TV actor based in Sydney, Australia. He has been trained by some of the top acting coaches, choreographers, directors, and industry professionals in Sydney, LA and NYC. Alex has toured the world as a lead in the live stadium adaption of the hugely popular children's television series Ben 10: Alien Force and traveling the world hosting live children's shows for Cartoon Network. Recently, he guest starred in the upcoming US series The Invisibles for the National Geographic Channel (and also to be aired on SBS in Australia). Alex has starred in season 1 of Murder Calls on the nine network, as well as a season of 'Deadly Women.' He starred in online streaming comedy sketches, "Toilet Paper Rage" and "Stay Home, Stay Safe," which are Corona Virus inspired comedy sketches. They are now being shared and viewed globally over 5 million times across multiple social media and online platforms. Alex also starred in the fan film Superman Meets Batman, which made the official selections for various International Comic Con festivals. Alex also continued to flex his quirky comedic skills with the portrayal of Keanu reeves in the YouTube sketch Matrix: Rebooted. Alex starred in an episode of the web series Busy As Usual, which has made official selects and awards in various international festivals. Alex graduated from the Australian College of Applied Psychology with a Bachelor of Counselling and Coaching Science. The Fantasy Thriller film Hollow has just won its first award for best Fantasy Film at the Top Shorts Film Festival, in which Ale plays the lead role of Ren. Alex has recently started training in action performance/screen stunts for actors, which includes sword fighting, screen combat and Martial arts skills.

Rachele Edson – Sienna

Rachele is an actor and writer from Brisbane who also has degrees in Law and Arts from the University of Queensland. In addition to her many theatre credits, Rachele co-wrote and starred in the drama short film, 'Maggie Makes A Cherry Pie', which was funded and shot in South Australia this year. She will soon appear on Channel 7's 'Crime Investigations Australia,' in a highly-anticipated episode about the Claremont Killer and the upcoming indie feature film 'Knot,' produced by Picture Works Australia and Minor Realm (Dev Patel's production company). In 2020, Rachele was a top 15 AAFTA Carmen Duncan Scholarship finalist. She has also founded a new industry networking initiative for women; SWFTT (Sydney Women in Film, Theatre & TV).

Damian Overton – Writer

Damian Overton is the creator of the LGBTQ indie theatre and film group OMAD Productions. His short film Papercut was selected at over thirty festivals, including the Academy Award-qualifying Flickerfest and CineFestOz film festivals in Australia. It has over 1,700,000 views on YouTube and was the winner of The Audience Award and Jury Award for Best Short Film at The Perth Queer International Film Festival. He also recently created the isolation short film "Luca and Iso" with L.A actor Ed Cali. It won Best Lockdown Film at The Lonely Wolf London International Film Festival. Damian’s short films have played at various film festivals, locally and internationally, including the Sydney Indie Film Festival.

His queer play THE BULLY was produced at Metro Arts in Brisbane. Damian was the winner of the LGBTQ Artist of the year at the Queensland Pride Awards in 2014.

Matt Gorrie – DOP

Matt Gorrie is a director of photography whose career spans a diverse range of material. Now working primarily in the commercial arena, he has also lensed several award-winning short films and shot for several lifestyle and television shows. These have been interspersed with the occasional smattering of experimental work, such as the documentary The Guy Who Killed Paris Hilton and the stop motion short film Richard.

Michael Drew – Composer

Michael Drew is a multi-award-winning composer for film, television and games. Scoring over 30 projects, Michael currently holds a Master of Fine Arts (First Class Honours) in Music for Motion Pictures and Contemporary Media from the Film Scoring Academy of Europe. Michael was recently awarded the 2022 APRAAMCOS Professional Development Award.

Dan Pimm - Sound Designer

Dan Pimm is a Sound Designer and Re-recording Mixer. Cutting his teeth in punk and hardcore music production, Dan's affinity for audio has extended to his long-established appreciation for film. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, he received his first major credit with Envoy: Shark Cull, an Australian shark conservation documentary that has screened globally and won several festival awards. Dan has since contributed sound design to various short films, a web series, and most recently, the upcoming sci-fi thriller Dome House Six (currently in post-production).

All support is greatly appreciated; even a share and a comment would be lovely! Thank you so much for supporting Aussie indie film!