INCUBATOR
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Awards - Wins
Best Colorado Short Film - Mile High Horror Film Festival
Best Micro Short Film - Fear Fete Horror Film Festival
Best Short Film Director (Jimmy Weber) - Fear Fete Horror Film Festival
Best Short Film Actor (Luke Sorge) - Fear Fete Horror Film Festival
Best Short Film Special Effects Make Up (Midian Crosby) - Maverick Movie Awards
Best Short Film - Rhode Island Horror Film Festival
Killer Short - Killer Film Fest
Killer Actor (Luke Sorge) - Killer Film Fest
Killer SFX - Killer Film Fest
Awards - Nominations
Best Short Film Director (Jimmy Weber) - Maverick Movie Awards
Best Short Film Actor (Luke Sorge) - Maverick Movie Awards
Best Editing - Maverick Movie Awards
Best Short Film - Shockfest
Best Monster Character - Shockfest
Best of Killer Film Fest - Killer Film Fest
Best Editing - Killer Film Fest
Killer Sound Design - Killer Film Fest
Scared to Death - Killer Film Fest
Palm D'Gore - Knoxville Horror Film Festival
Honorable Mention - Narrative Short Category - Los Angeles Reel Film Festival
What people are saying
A man wakes up in a bathtub full of ice and blood. That’s the good news. We suppose one could say that this is a film about “productivity” — and we hope you don’t pack a lunch!
- Mitch Davis - Co-Director, Fantasia Film Festival
Well-directed and powerfully affective, is INCUBATOR (Jimmy Weber, USA). A young man wakes up in a bathtub covered in ice, a huge scar on his side, and a note on the bathroom mirror that says "Thanks." A brilliant set-up leading to an intense denouement that moves in a Cronenberg-like direction.
- Rue Morgue Magazine
Bloody bathroom scenes with a tub of ice usually indicate a kidney or other organ has been removed. This short flips this type of horror story on its ear, by using the subject as an incubator. What is really interesting about this short is that there is a strong female presence without seeing the female transgressor. This is one of the most interesting shorts in the horror short program.
- Horror's Not Dead
Incubator takes the premise of the man waking up in a bathroom in a tub of ice and spins it on it’s head. Jimmy Weber did a nice job with it, keeping it at a good length to tell the story and get out just as you get a shock. - Film Threat
I loved this flip-the-script take on the old kidney stealing fable. Though short in length, every second oozes tension as a man wakes up in a bathtub of ice and frantically attempts to get out of the hotel room he’s boarded into. Jimmy Weber zigs and zags through the small space of the hotel room, filling the viewer with a sense of claustrophobia and dread. Luke Sorge is only required to frantically dart around the room and scream bloody murder, but does so effectively. INCUBATOR is a damn cool short that will take you by surprise with its gory climax.
- Ain't It Cool News
INCUBATOR is a great short film to open the Shorts Block with. Just giving the viewer enough details to go with, this film is less than 10 minutes long and really does a great job of creating the mood and disgusting the audience in just the right way.
-Icons of Fright
About Incubator
A young man wakes up in a bathtub full of ice in a dingy motel room only to discover his problems have just begun. You’ve heard the urban legend...this is worse.
After spending his film school years making short movies for under $500, writer/director Jimmy Weber wanted to make a short film that truly represented his vision. He knew he had the right story after writing a five page script called Incubator. It had plenty of gore, suspense, and enough room to showcase his filmmaking abilities. In July 2010, he and producer Annie Baker assembled a talented crew from Denver, Colorado and filmed Incubator in two days.
Luke Sorge's intense performance as a young man caught in a terrible situation makes viewers feel they are living through this nightmare. Jon Stevenson's visceral cinematography captures the mayhem through a disturbing and voyeuristic lens. Monster Midian Crosby's special make-up and effects are so lifelike they cause shock and disgust instead of being distracting.
But Incubator is only the first chapter of this story. While on set, Weber thought of numerous ways of turning this short into a much larger film. With a feature length script written and Incubator making its way around the film festival circuit, it's only a matter of time before these filmmakers turn this nightmare into a reality.
INCUBATOR CREDITS
CAST
CREW
JIMMY WEBER - Writer, Director, Post Production
ANNIE BAKER - Producer
JON STEVENSON - Director of Photography
TARA HUNTER - First Assistant Director
KC WEATHERMAN - Gaffer
NICK FALLS - Camera Assist
JOHN SCHMIDT - Camera Assist
MONSTER MIDIAN CROSBY - Special Makeup and Effects
BRANDON FRYMAN - Production Designer
ZACH STARKEBAUM - Digital Intermediate Technician
COREY COSTELLO - Audio Recorded By
Additional Information
Genre - Horror
Total Runtime - 06:26
Language - English
Aspect Ratio - 2.33:1
Filming Location - Denver, Colorado
Original Format - RED ONE (4480x1920)
Preview Format - DVD NTSC & PAL
Screening Format - All Formats Available Upon Request
Festivals and Screenings
HORRORFEST - Official Selection
Denver, Colorado.
April 15-17, 2011.
PITTSBURGH HORROR FILM FESTIVAL - Official Selection
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
June 3-5, 2011.
FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL - Official Selection
Montreal, QC Canada
July 12 - August 7, 2011
Screening August 3rd - Small Gauge Trauma 2011
Salt Lake City Film Festival - Official Selection
Salt Lake City, UT
August 18-21, 2011
Screening August 21 - 3:00pm - Post Theater - With THE BOOK
Dragon*Con - Official Selection
Atlanta, Georgia
September 2-5, 2011
Screening September 2 - 10:00pm - Horror Block
Glen Rose Neo•Relix Film Festival - Official Selection
Glen Rose, Texas
September 2-4, 2011
Screening September 2 - 6:00pm - Campbell Bldg Theater - Opening Night Terror Block
Horrorfind Weekend Film Festival - Official Selection
Gettysburg, PA
September 2-4, 2011
Screening Friday, September 2 - 5:15pm - Gateway Theater
Atlanta Horror Film Festival - Official Selection
Atlanta, GA
September 15-17, 2011
Screening September 16 - 10:00pm - Theater Two - Horror Shorts One
TULSA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL - Official Selection
Tulsa, Oklahoma
September 22-25, 2011
Screening September 23 - 4:00pm - Red Theater - "Uninvited Visitors" Horror Shorts
Coney Island Film Festival - Official Selection
Coney Island, New York
September 22-25, 2011
Screening Saturday, Sept. 24 - 8pm - Sideshows By The Seashore - 1208 Surf Ave. Ground Floor
Chicago Horror Film Festival - Official Selection
Chicago, Illinois
September 23-25, 2011
Screening Friday, September 23 - 5:35pm
Fantastic Fest - Official Selection
Austin, Texas
September 22-29, 2011
Screening Saturday, September 24 - 3:15pm and Monday, September 26 - 3:10pm - Short Fuse: Horror Shorts
Shockerfest - Official Selection
Modesto, California
October 1-31, 2011
Screening October 7-17 - 12:30am block of mini-short horror films
Big Bear Horro-Fi Film Festival - Official Selection
Big Bear, California
September 30 - October 2, 2011
Screening Sunday, October 2 - 1:45pm - Block #12
Mile High Horror Film Festival - Official Selection
Denver, Colorado
October 7-9
Screening Friday, October 7 - 9:40pm
Freak Show Horror Film Festival - Official Selection
Orlando, Florida
October 7-9, 2011
Screening Saturday, October 8 - 9:30pm
Spooky Movie International Horror Film Festival - Official Selection
Washington, D.C.
October 13-16, 2011
Screening Saturday, October 15 - 9:30pm - With Mr. Bricks: A Heavy Metal Murder Musical and Play Dead.
Telluride Horror Show - Official Selection
Telluride, Colorado
October 14-16, 2011
Screening Sunday, October 16 - 2:00pm - With The Devil's Business
Screamfest - Official Selection
Los Angeles, California
October 14-23, 2011
Screening Friday, October 21st - 8pm
Everybody Dies Horror Film Festival - Official Selection
Orange County, California
October 21-22, 2011
Screening Friday, October 21st - 6pm
Fargo Fantastic Film Festival - Official Selection
Fargo, ND
October 21-23, 2011
Specific screening information coming soon!
Thriller! Chiller! Film Festival - Official Selection
Grand Rapids, Michigan
October 21-23, 2011
Screening Saturday, October 22nd - 11pm - Shorts Program 4
Celluloid Screams - Official Selection
Sheffield, United Kingdom
October 21-23, 2011
Screening Sunday, October 23rd - 7:15pm - with Cold Sweat and Animal Control
Knoxville Horror Film Fest - Official Selection
Knoxville, Tennessee
October 22-23, 2011
Specific screening information coming soon!
Carnage International Film Festival - Official Selection
Wilmington, North Carolina
October 23, 2011
Screening October 23rd - 6:30pm - Third Block
Horrorquest - Official Selection
Atlanta, Georgia
October 21-28
Screening Sunday, October 28 - 12:30pm - Shorts 2
Flickers: Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival - Official Selection
Providence, Rhode Island
October 27-30, 2011
Screening Saturday, October 29 - 7:00pm - At The Vets 1 Avenue of the Arts, Providence - With Scream 4 and Beg
New Orleans Horror Film Festival - Official Selection
New Orleans, Louisiana
October 28-30, 2011
Screening Saturday, October 29 - 6:00pm - Shorts Block: Supernatural
Fear Fete Horror Film Festival - Official Selection
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
October 28-30, 2011
Screening Sunday, October 30 - 4:00pm - Best of the Fete
Starz Denver Film Festival - Official Selection
Denver, Colorado
November 2-13, 2011
Screening Sunday, November 6 and November 9 - Sunshine and Roses: Colorado Shorts
Killer Film Fest - Official Selection
Cambridge, Massachusetts
November 4-6, 2011
Screening Saturday, November 5 - 8:00pm - Film Block 9
Shockfest - Official Selection
Hollywood, California
November 18-19, 2011
Screening Friday, November 18 - 9:30pm
Little Rock Horror Picture Show - Official Selection
Little Rock, Arkansas
February 17-19, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012 - 3:30pm Screening with Sennentuntschi: Curse of the Alps
Nevermore Film Festival - Official Selection
Durham, North Carolina
February 17-19, 2012
They're Coming to Get You, Barbara - Saturday 4:20pm and Sunday 12:10pm both at Cinema One
The Indie Horror Film Festival - Official Selection
Chicago, Illinois
March 23-25, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012 - 2:00pm
Bradford International Film Festival - Official Selection
Bradford, United Kingdom
April 19-29, 2012
Specific Screening Information Coming Soon!
Hollywood Shorts - Official Selection
Hollywood, California
Spring/Summer 2012
Specific Date and Times Coming Soon!
JIMMY WEBER - Writer, Director, Editor
Jimmyʼs love for movies began when he saw Terminator 2: Judgement Day at seven-years-old and since then his love for guns, monsters, and genre flicks has never died. He credits his mother, a big horror fan, for raising him on a healthy diet of blood and guts. While most kids his age were seeing Space Jam, he was watching Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist. It was awesome.
Years later, he graduated from the University of Colorado Denver. The classes were pretty cool and the teachers were great, but his real education came from a book called Rebel Without a Crew. Like some crazy born-again believer, that book changed his life and the way he would forever make his movies.
This lead to two successful student films: The Gatekeeper, which was nominated for Best Short Film and Best Actor (Kevin Cunningham) at the 2009 Chicago Horror Film Festival, and The House in Windsor, which was an Official Selection to the Denver Film Festival where it caused quite a stir for its edgy format and controversial narrative.
With a passion for story and character and the desire to make horror films that are inventive and fresh, Jimmy hopes Incubator is just the beginning of a long and bloody film making career.
PRETTY PEOPLE PICTURES - Production Company
Pretty People Pictures is a film production company based out of Denver, Colorado. It was started by writer/director Jimmy Weber and producer Annie Baker in March, 2007. Our goal has always been simple: Make the films we'd like to see.
Our last film, The House In Windsor, was an official selection for the 2010 Denver Film Festival and also won Best Production 4 Film at the University of Colorado Denver Spring Showing.
The Gatekeeper recently ended its festival run after being accepted into Horror UK (2009), An International Night of Horror (2009), and the Chicago Horror Film Festival (2009) where it was nominated for Best Short Film and Best Actor (Kevin Cunningham).
Our latest film, Incubator is currently on the festival circuit and has been accepted to over 25 international film festivals including Fantastic Fest, Fantasia and Screamfest. It has also won Best Micro Short Film at Fear Fete Horror Film Festival, Best Special Effects - Make Up at the Maverick Movie Awards and has been nominated for half a dozen other awards.
PrettyPeoplePictures.com is the home of Pretty People Pictures. There you can find all the latest information about our films, watch many of them, receive free merchandise, as well as read spooky short stories written by Jimmy Weber.
Trailer
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STILLS FROM INCUBATOR
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Interviews
Fear Fête's Derek Morris had the opportunity to chat with this Jimmy about his award winning film:
What was the first horror film you created?
My first horror film was a little short called Downstairs. It was about a young guy who hears a strange noise in his house and investigates. This leads him further “downstairs” and ends with him getting eaten by a killer bunny. Looking back, it’s not the best movie in the world, but I learned a lot from it.
What led to your decision to make your first horror film?
I love horror films. My mom is a big horror fan so I was raised watching great horror flicks like The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby at a young age. When I got to film school, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some fake blood and start killing people. My dream in life is to make low-budget horror films for a living, so making my first horror film was an easy decision.
Tell me more about Incubator.
Incubator is a short horror film that plays off of the classic urban legend of organ theft. A young man wakes up in a motel bathtub full of ice and blood with no idea how he got there. He quickly finds a huge gash on his side and realizes something has been stolen from him. All of my films prior to Incubator have been pretty amature or silly. I consider this film to be my first real horror film.
Where was the movie filmed at?
Incubator was filmed at the Belcaro Motel in Denver, Colorado. The motel staff was extremely accommodating and supportive even after telling them we were making a horror film. The place is pretty beat up and the guests are a little sketchy, but it worked perfectly as a set.
Has Incubator earned any awards since its release, besides Best Micro Short Film at Fear Fête?
We’re still in the early stages of our festival run with Incubator. In fact, Fear Fete was one of the first festivals we were accepted to. Winning Best Micro Short was very exciting for us especially considering the stiff competition.
Which films influenced you the most when creating Incubator? Wait, let me guess. Aliens?
It’s funny because I really didn’t think of Aliens until we were shooting the movie. Of course, that film is a huge influence because it’s a masterpiece and I’ve seen it a million times, but it wasn’t at the front of my mind. To me, the ultimate monster movie is John Carpenter’s, The Thing. The viciousness of that movie was what I really wanted to capture, especially since Incubator is just a small part of a larger story.
Do you plan to someday turn Incubator into a feature length film?
Definitely. Although Incubator was conceived and written as a short film, I couldn’t help but
think of a feature length version. During post-production, I wrote the feature length script and hope that the short will help us raise money to make the feature some day. The short is the first five minutes of the movie and trust me, it only gets crazier. The feature has the same pacing and intensity as these first five minutes throughout the whole film. While writing it, I just kept thinking “less talk, more rock” and I think that shows in the script.
Are you currently working on any new horror films?
I'm polishing up the script for the Incubator feature as well as working on a couple other feature screenplays. I'm also helping produce Isaac Misenhemier's feature film, The Gatekeeper. That film stars Ron Perlman (Hellboy) and Matt Bush (Pirhanna 3D), so it's gonna be a lot of fun. Isaac is working on raising the money now through Kickstarter and I can't wait to start shooting. We're shooting in New Orleans and I've never been to Louisiana, so that will be awesome!
Any genre, what is your favorite film of all time?
This is obviously a tough question to answer, but I think I’d have to say Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. I’ve seen this movie so many times I can close my eyes and watch it in my head. I’ve always tried to live my life like Ferris and that’s gotten me pretty far.
Which horror characters kept you awake at night as a child?
Regan from The Exorcist haunted my childhood and still scares the hell out of me. I saw that movie at a young age and I’m glad I did, because every time I watch The Exorcist I remember what it was like seeing her for the first time. I also saw The Blair Witch Project at a really tiny theater in Denver when it first came out. Even though I was 14-years-old, I was terrified to go to sleep for like two years. I should revisit that movie because it’s probably not that scary anymore, but I’m too afraid.
What has been the biggest moment of your filmmaking career thus far?
Incubator has already been accepted to 10 festivals including Fantasia, Screamfest, and, of course, Fear Fête where it’s won an award and has been nominated for two others. This is definitely my most successful film. Another fun moment was at the Denver Film Festival where my film, The House in Windsor played. The film is a faux-documentary and almost everyone at the festival was completely fooled. It was a great feeling. Not because we tricked them but because the film actually worked.
What advice can you give to beginning filmmakers?
Learn everything about film making and how to do those jobs. Learn how to write, direct, act, score, edit, color correct, create visual effects...everything. It's never been easier to make a movie and all the resources you need are available on the internet. Making movies when you're starting out is a lonely process, so you need to know how to do everything. As time goes on and your crew gets bigger, you'll be a better director because you actually know what you're talking about.
Jimmy, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with me.
Interview with Jimmy Weber for the Tulsa International Film Festival
What challenges did you have as writer/director?
Jimmy Weber- The hardest thing, as it always is with the horror genre, was to make Incubator scary. We also wanted this film to be intense, gory and gross. But most people are turned off by gore and as a horror filmmaker, I wanted to keep them around to scare them at the end. So the challenge was to make a film that was gory, but not too gory, and really scary.
What were you looking for when casting this film?
JW- There is no dialogue in Incubator, so we needed an actor who is great with intense solo scenes. We had made a movie with Luke Sorge called Below the Basement and after we finished it, I knew Luke would be perfect for Incubator. Luke can turn on extreme emotions as if he’s pushing a button. He’s always a blast to work with too.
What was the budget for Incubator?
JW- We spent just a little over $5,000 on Incubator. This is more money than all of our other films put together! But we wanted to make a movie that looked like a movie. We shot it with the Red One camera and had a professional crew, so the money was definitely put on the screen.
How big was your crew?
JW- We had a ten person crew, including me. We shot this film a few months after Annie Baker (producer) and I graduated film school and had worked on dozens of local film shoots. So we were able to assemble an Ocean’s Eleven-type crew of some of the best talent in Denver, Colorado.
How long did it take to shoot this film?
JW- We shot Incubator in one weekend in July 2010. It went by fast because we were having so much fun.
What kind of SFX did you use?
JW- Besides a couple of “clean up shots,” everything in the film was done practically. Monster Midian Crosby designed and created all of the special effects and she did an incredible job. There wasn’t a lot of movie magic done either. The effects she created freaked out everyone while we were filming.
What, if anything, would you do differently?
JW- There’s a little gag in the film that involves Luke’s teeth. Judging from people’s reactions, this is the most effective gag in the film. What’s funny is it came about late in pre-production so we didn’t actually plan for it. If I could go back, I would probably amp it up a little more and maybe add some blood or something. But like I said, everyone really likes it, so maybe it’s good the way it is.
What was the most challenging aspect of Incubator?
JW- We shot the film in a dingy motel and the resident next door was absolutely crazy. He kept threatening to call the cops and made life difficult. But once we got him under control, it was smooth sailing all the way through post-production.
Did you have any difficulty securing a location?
JW- Not at all. The motel staff was very accommodating and supportive even after telling them we were making a horror film. When our crazy neighbor threatened to call the cops, the motel staff told us, “Oh don’t worry about him, he’s just crazy.
What did you learn from this experience?
JW- Annie and I are used to making films with a Sony Handy-Cam and a couple of clip lights. During Incubator, I learned a lot about directing a real crew with a real camera. I also learned fake ice cubes are about the same price as gold.
Is horror your favorite genre?
JW- Absolutely. My dream in life is to make low-budget horror movies. I love every kind of movie, but horror films are just so fun to watch and make. Working on a set where everyone is running around covered in fake blood is a blast. And there’s nothing better than sitting in a dark theater and watching people squirm in their seats or cover their eyes while they watch your film.
What projects are you working on currently?
JW- Incubator is actually the first five minutes of a feature length film. I recently finished the feature script and now we’re working on developing it. We’re hoping the success of the short will lead to some opportunities for the feature. But trust me, if you think the short is crazy…just wait until you see the feature.