The Convention Turns Sinister: Inside "Channel Dread," BloodBat's Best Homage Winner

The scariest thing about "Channel Dread" may be where it was shot: not a soundstage or a haunted house, but the packed convention floor of MidSummer Scream itself. Turning the friendliest place in horror into something quietly menacing earned co-creators Jasmine and Alyssa Arreola the 2025 BloodBat Best Homage Award at the Screaming Room Film Festival in Long Beach, California.

The idea grew out of the convention's own logic. "The core idea that sparked Channel Dread was the atmosphere of MidSummer Scream itself, a place that revolved around experiences and opportunities to buy," says Jasmine Arreola, who wrote and directed. Drawing on internet ARGs, the team built a figure to personify all of it: a character that was, in her words, "the physical embodiment of allurement, of spectacle." They call it the Entity, and its whole purpose is to make you look. "We wanted to turn the positive attributes of the convention into something sinister," she says, and that mission held from the first idea to the final cut.

The result won over the judges across the board, from the studio team at Buffalo 8 to Max Tzannes (director of Et Tu) to the HorrorBuzz and MidSummer Scream crews. On paper, the credits are simple: "Channel Dread" is co-created by Jasmine and Alyssa Arreola, with Jasmine writing and directing and Alyssa producing. In practice, the weekend asked far more of two people than two roles.

Time and location did most of the shaping. "With the little time we did have, it was up to fast thinking to pick the right places of the convention to shoot at," Arreola says. The task was less building a set than finding one already hiding in plain sight: "finding the right eerie corners of this purposely eerie place to turn into our world of Channel Dread."

It did not help that the director was also on the clock elsewhere. "My personal time as writer and director was cut in half, as I was fulfilling my role as a scare actor for a panel and booth at MidSummer Scream," Arreola says. Her producer kept the film moving in the meantime: "Alyssa, our producer, used that time to work alongside HorrorBuzz and Carolyn to sort out the bulk of our filming schedule for the main day." Once free, Arreola spent the rest of the day shooting scenes with her actors, then grabbing b-roll until the floor closed.

That "Carolyn" is actress Carolyn Hennesy, whose presence gave the short a jolt of star wattage, and gave its director the hardest moment of the weekend. "The single hardest moment was getting out of costume and directly coming over to film in public with Carolyn," Arreola says. "I was anxiously rubbing the airbrush off of my camera lens. It was nerve-wracking to switch into director mode and film in the large crowd of people." Hennesy also helped shape the film's sharpest idea. Guided by the actress, the team reworked her scene to fold in the contest's mandatory secret element. "By adding the body hidden in plain sight just behind her, [it] really added that disturbing edge," Arreola says, a small warning that the audience "could be getting lied to at any point." Her gratitude is unreserved. "Her inclusion and involvement in this film gave it that special it-factor it much needed," she says. "I feel honored to have someone of her acting caliber involved in this project."

For all the pressure, one sequence was pure play. "The most fun shot to film was the one that takes place on the stairs," Arreola says. "There were people walking up and down, so we had to bide our time wisely. My actor playing the Entity was holding a light stick just below the frame. It was so much fun to get experimental with showcasing the character after the big reveal."

The technique that made all of it possible was also the simplest. "Honestly, going handheld really made all the difference," Arreola says. "It fits the tone of the film, while also being really easily accessible to use in a timely manner. In such a packed place like MidSummer Scream, a tripod was more of a hassle. Overall, handheld was really a lifesaver."

The reward for a second viewing is in the details of the Entity, which the team labored over. "It was supposed to be 90s late-night television meets uncanny valley," Arreola says. "So we made sure to have the Entity dressed in dull colors, straight coarse hair, and proper posture." Nothing about it is an accident; everything about it is built to feel just slightly wrong.

Ask her what another six hours would have bought, and the answer is the honest wish list of a filmmaker who ran out of clock. "I would have used a gimbal and taken time to really set up my shots. I would also spend more time on lighting," she says. "Editing-wise, I probably would take some effects out and really set a proper pace." One regret stings more than the rest: "I misinterpreted how we could have included audio, which is a major loss to me."

For Arreola, "Channel Dread" is a step toward something larger. She plans to study film theory and production in university.