D.G. Allstrum

Dead Air is an eight-minute psychological/supernatural horror short about a livestream host whose broadcast is invaded by increasingly disturbing supernatural transmissions. As she fights to regain control of the stream, she discovers the horrifying truth: she isn't broadcasting to the dead—she has unknowingly been streaming from beyond the grave. The unique hook is that the livestream itself becomes the haunted space, using the familiar language of digital broadcasting to tell a classic ghost story.

Dead Air is aimed at horror audiences who enjoy supernatural stories, psychological dread, technological horror, and twist-driven short films. Tonally and conceptually, it should appeal to viewers of Host, Unfriended, Deadstream, Ghostwatch, and episodes of Black Mirror and The Twilight Zone. At the same time, its eight-minute runtime makes it particularly suited to horror-film festivals, conventions, anthology programming, and online/streaming audiences accustomed to compact storytelling.

The primary inspiration was the idea of taking the traditional haunted-house story and asking: What does a haunting look like when the "house" is a livestream? Instead of ghosts appearing through doors and windows, they emerge through cameras, screens, corrupted broadcasts, and the audience watching from the other side. The story also reflects how much of modern life is performed through screens. Livestreaming creates an unusual intimacy between performer and audience—we can watch someone alone in their room from thousands of miles away. Dead Air turns that connection into something frightening: what if death itself couldn't disconnect you?

Dead Air is a completed eight-minute short film currently on the festival circuit. The immediate goal is to continue building its festival presence and audience while using the film as a calling card for larger directing opportunities. Rather than seeking finishing funds, the focus now is on festival exposure, distribution opportunities for the completed short, industry relationships, and representation, while demonstrating the filmmaking voice and visual identity that can carry forward into future feature projects.