Sin Dial
San Anselmo, California | Film Feature
Horror
In 2016, my wife, our dog and I moved into an old house in Marin County. This film tells our bizarre, horrifying, true story. While we were lucky to escape the demonic presence that endlessly tortured us in that house, I saved actual recordings on audio and video that will be released in the film.
Sin Dial
San Anselmo, California | Film Feature
Horror
1 Campaigns | California, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $18,551 for pre-production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
105 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
In 2016, my wife, our dog and I moved into an old house in Marin County. This film tells our bizarre, horrifying, true story. While we were lucky to escape the demonic presence that endlessly tortured us in that house, I saved actual recordings on audio and video that will be released in the film.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Sin Dial Logline:
A loving couple struggles to preserve their sanity and their marriage when they move into a house with an unholy presence neither of them understands.
I didn't anticipate my first feature film to be a horror movie, but some things come to you literally in the wee hours. When my wife and I moved into our house back in 2016, it was an exciting time. We found a house we could afford in a wonderfully charming and idyllic neighborhood. It came with a lovely garden for our hairless dog, Bridget Adelaide, to explore, along with many shady areas to protect her delicate skin.
Very soon after moving in, we discovered why our rent was way below market value. A bizarre and terrifying series of events quickly revoked my status as a nonbeliever in the paranormal.
The first otherworldly contact we had was with an entity that my wife called Mr. Buttercrust - a name that came to her in a dream. Buttercrust seemed to be harmless - a thin, pale man, with a soft spot for playing ball with our dog at 3 am. He was often found waving to my wife as he passed in front of the fireplace, shrouded in shadows.
This film, however, is really about the other entity. A Dark Demon.
While we were living in the house, this creature played a game of psychological and physical torture with me and my wife. The nameless shadow violently attacked me, sending me to the emergency room on two separate occasions, once after ripping the cornea from my eye. This demon seemed out to seriously injure me; meanwhile, it would hypnotize the mind of my wife and speak through her in her sleep. While under his metaphysical spell, her personality was drastically and terrifyingly altered. We got out, but these experiences have continued to haunt us. I can't not make a film about them. My beliefs have been forever changed: I will never again be a naysayer regarding the paranormal. But more importantly, our lives have been forever changed.
We've put together an incredible team to bring this true story to life.
Director / Producer: Brett Payne
Born and raised in Australia before moving to London and then finally settling down in the USA, Brett brings his unique passion and vision for this film as somebody who has lived through a real life haunting.
Screenwriter: Arika Cullen
Arika Cullen is a professional writer and filmmaker, having brought several award-winning short film projects to screen. Her scripts have made it to the finals and semi-finals of various writing competitions, including the Screen craft Screenwriting Fellowship contest.
Composer / Sound Designer: Andrew T. Mackay
Andrew is an award winning British classically trained composer, producer & arranger. He is also the co-founder alongside Garry Hughes of the popular electronica/world music act Bombay Dub Orchestra. Among a diverse plethora of projects, Andrew scored Sturla Gunnarsson's feature doc 'Monsoon' which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2014 and won the Peoples Choice Award for the best Canadian Film of 2014. Check out some of his amzing work here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR-vmdkILNc
Producer: Joanne Lubeck Esser
Joanne is a proud member of the Screen Actors Guild and the Actors Equity Association, and is a professional TV, film and theatre actor. Her expertise as an actor has lead her to the other side of the camera, serving as Associate Producer on two feature-length, cause-based documentaries— CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap, and bias.
Graphic Designer: Scott Payne
Australian based artist, Scott Payne, is a self-taught visual artist, illustrator and digital artist who has been drawing and creating his whole life.
Sin Dial will be visually thrilling thanks to the help of our VFX Supervisor who has years of experience working with the premier motion picture visual effects companies.
.jpg)
Sin Dial will be elevated by chilling audio from actual recordings I took while in the presence of the demon.
Because we are using actual sound recordings from the house where the attacks occurred, we need to execute our sound design in the most optimal way, and so we turn to the best in the business to make this happen. We are confident this found footage will elevate our film, and make the final sound design that much creepier.
We're utilizing Christmas creepiness.
Christmas is always a great time to set a horror film and ours take place over the five days leading up to Christmas. Yuletide music can also be creepy, especially when using a very popular Christmas song in quite a horrific way. Christmas decorations, nutcrackers, and dolls can all be used in a sinister manner if shot correctly and with evil intent.
As a filmmaker, my horror aesthetic lends itself to a more European look, utilizing less torture with blood/gore and leaning more towards suspense and mood. I love all kinds of horror films and have been a fan since seeing Halloween when I was ten years old. Kubrick's The Shining with its deliberate camera moves, fabulous soundtrack and mood is a prime example of my taste and a high bar we are looking to emulate in our film. Not showing everything is always a scarier choice and on our limited budget, we will be employing some old school in-camera shots to save money, while employing realism as well. Francis Ford Coppola's fabulous Bram Stoker's Dracula is a great example of a film using older techniques while still looking incredible.
We are looking to cast actors that are not only talented but also racially diverse for our project. We have our eyes on a few notable actors at this time and will be announcing casting choices as we move along in the process. We also are on the hunt for our dog, Bridget, which I am sure will be a very tough part to cast!
We are planning on shooting the film in 4K and will be using the best equipment we can get our hands on. Lighting and color will be integral to the look of our film. We are planning on pulling color as the film progresses to show how our couple is having the life sucked out of them by the demonic presence in the house.
.jpg)
This film is based on my life and I have high expectations for the final product. I want it to look and sound as accurate as possible, and I want to relay the unbelievable horror of residing with a malicious demon. I believe that the events of this film will blow your mind - they certainly sent me reeling to the precipice of sanity on multiple occasions. Mostly, I want our story out there because it changed my idea of the paranormal forever-- and it might change yours as well.
That's where you come in. If you have goosebumps already, please join our innermost circle of supporters by donating to this campaign. We're offering unique gifts that will be well worth it, and you'll be among the first to see our final masterpiece. It will be terrifying -- and best of all it's based on true events that happened to us. We hope you'll give us your support!
STRETCH GOAL!!!!
Once we have met our initial fundraising goal of $20,000, we would love to make it to our Stretched Freddy goal of $35,000! These additional funds will allow us to bring on an A-list Casting Director to immediately embark on our search for our lead actors.
Thank you to everyone for supporting our film - it means the world to us!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Make up and special effects
Costs $3,000
To ensure we have a great look with realistic blood and make up we need to raise additional funds.
Camera Equipment!!
Costs $3,000
We need a 4K camera, lenses and equipment to make sure our film looks as good as possible!
Creature Suit Design and Manufacture
Costs $5,000
Our creature needs to be terrifying and to ensure that it is we need to create a creature suit!
Casting Director
Costs $2,000
We need to find our actors for the film and make sure we are getting the best people we can!
Props
Costs $2,500
X-Mas props for our film are required as it is set at Christmas! Creepy toys are always fun as well!
Sound Equipment
Costs $2,500
We need to capture great sound on location so we need the best sound equipment we can afford!
Wardrobe
Costs $2,000
We need to create fabulous clothes for the ghostly Mr Buttercrust and the cast to wear.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Director / Executive Producer / Story:
Brett Payne
Born and raised in Australia before moving to London and then finally settling down in the USA, Brett brings his unique passion and vision for this film as somebody who has lived through a real life haunting. He has had many careers in his life, as a former Chef, Sales Manager, Porsche salesman to name a few. But as a teenager living in London the acting bug and the magic of film drew him in and he has been a devotee every since. He is a student of film with some of his favorite filmakers being: Hitchcock, Kubrick, Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood, John Carpenter, Terry Gilliam, Spielberg and Ridley Scott as well as many, many others too numerous to list. As a manager of people both in the kitchen and in the automotive world getting people to do what you need to get a project done, delegating resources, making decisions in the heat of the moment is the key to success. Credits include Producer on Wilt (horror short), Producer on One in Five (drama short).
Screenwriter:
Arika Cullen
Arika Cullen is a professional writer and filmmaker, having brought several award-winning short film projects to screen. She earned her MFA in creative writing from Full Sail University and has since penned several scripts for both short and feature length films. Her scripts have made it to the finals and semi-finals of various writing competitions, including the Screencraft Screenwriting Fellowship contest. Miss Cullen is a survivor of both domestic violence and religious abuse; her history inspires her to tell dark stories, some with a note of hope... and some without.
Composer / Sound Designer:
Andrew T. Mackay
Andrew is an award winning British classically trained composer, producer & arranger. He is also the co-founder alongside Garry Hughes of the popular electronica/world music act Bombay Dub Orchestra. His music often fuses orchestral with folk and traditional elements of music from the film's region. His most recent films are 'Hamid' by Aijaz Khan, the Marathi feature 'Raakshas' by Dnyanesh Zoting, 'The Music Teacher' by Sarthak Das Gupta as well as 'Long Live Brij Mohan' by Nikhil Bhat.
Andrew also scored Sturla Gunnarsson's feature doc 'Monsoon' which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2014 and won the Peoples Choice Award for the best Canadian Film of 2014. In 2015 he scored Katherine Kingland's feature documentary 'In Rajasthan' which has gone on to win awards around the festival circuit.
His debut feature score for the film 'Little Box Of Sweets' by writer/director Meneka Das won the Grand Jury Award for Best Music at The South Asian International Film Festival of New York in 2008. He has also produced several films including the award winning short 'La Lune Folle' also by Meneka Das.
His company Bohemia Junction Ltd exclusively represents Abbey Road Studios for India as well as the FAMES Project's Macedonian Symphonic Orchestra and has recorded the scores for dozen's of Indian films over the last five years including scores by the likes of A.R. Rahman and Santhosh Narayanan among many others. He is the Director of India's first ever Composers Lab which started in 2013 as part Mumbai Film Festival in association with Abbey Road, PRS for Music UK and supported by BMI. He also co-curates Song Writing Camps in India and the UK working alongside the likes of BMI and APRA.
Producer:
Joanne Lubeck Esser
.jpg)
Joanne received her BFA in Dramatic Arts from UC Santa Barbara, and has since been working as a professional Actor in TV, Film and Theatre. In 2015, she joined the Finish Line Features team where she has served as Associate Producer on two award-winning feature-length documentaries— CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap, and bias—as well as one short film, Tino. Joanne also serves as a liaison between the film team and its many partners, coordinates private screenings and speaking engagements, and supports production both on and off set.
Joanne is thrilled to be joining the Sin Dial production team, and is looking forward to being an instrumental part in bringing this horror feature to life. Joanne lives with her husband and two little girls in Marin County. She is a proud member of the Screen Actors Guild and the Actors Equity Association.
Graphic Designer:
Scott Payne
.jpg)
Australian based artist, Scott Payne, is a self-taught visual artist, illustrator and digital artist who has been drawing and creating his whole life. School was a blur of drawing dragons, creatures and comics during class and extending this to various art shows and creative endeavours as a student. A pursuit of a fine arts degree followed and then a foray into the digital world had Scott hooked, with a transition from traditional mediums to digital, Scott was able to pursue his passion for creature and character design and comic art. Heavily influenced in his early years by Frank Frazetta, John Buscema and Jim Lee, Scott has developed his own unique style and design with his creatures and characters. Scott’s artwork presents across a range of styles including surrealism, personal paintings with an arrangement of colourful elements that tell a story and take the viewer into another world, conceptual art and comic art.
Scott has collaborated with international artists, is currently a feature artist with Corel Painter, worked on commission pieces and delved into design work with some well-known Australian companies.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Sin Dial Logline:
A loving couple struggles to preserve their sanity and their marriage when they move into a house with an unholy presence neither of them understands.
I didn't anticipate my first feature film to be a horror movie, but some things come to you literally in the wee hours. When my wife and I moved into our house back in 2016, it was an exciting time. We found a house we could afford in a wonderfully charming and idyllic neighborhood. It came with a lovely garden for our hairless dog, Bridget Adelaide, to explore, along with many shady areas to protect her delicate skin.
Very soon after moving in, we discovered why our rent was way below market value. A bizarre and terrifying series of events quickly revoked my status as a nonbeliever in the paranormal.
The first otherworldly contact we had was with an entity that my wife called Mr. Buttercrust - a name that came to her in a dream. Buttercrust seemed to be harmless - a thin, pale man, with a soft spot for playing ball with our dog at 3 am. He was often found waving to my wife as he passed in front of the fireplace, shrouded in shadows.
This film, however, is really about the other entity. A Dark Demon.
While we were living in the house, this creature played a game of psychological and physical torture with me and my wife. The nameless shadow violently attacked me, sending me to the emergency room on two separate occasions, once after ripping the cornea from my eye. This demon seemed out to seriously injure me; meanwhile, it would hypnotize the mind of my wife and speak through her in her sleep. While under his metaphysical spell, her personality was drastically and terrifyingly altered. We got out, but these experiences have continued to haunt us. I can't not make a film about them. My beliefs have been forever changed: I will never again be a naysayer regarding the paranormal. But more importantly, our lives have been forever changed.
We've put together an incredible team to bring this true story to life.
Director / Producer: Brett Payne
Born and raised in Australia before moving to London and then finally settling down in the USA, Brett brings his unique passion and vision for this film as somebody who has lived through a real life haunting.
Screenwriter: Arika Cullen
Arika Cullen is a professional writer and filmmaker, having brought several award-winning short film projects to screen. Her scripts have made it to the finals and semi-finals of various writing competitions, including the Screen craft Screenwriting Fellowship contest.
Composer / Sound Designer: Andrew T. Mackay
Andrew is an award winning British classically trained composer, producer & arranger. He is also the co-founder alongside Garry Hughes of the popular electronica/world music act Bombay Dub Orchestra. Among a diverse plethora of projects, Andrew scored Sturla Gunnarsson's feature doc 'Monsoon' which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2014 and won the Peoples Choice Award for the best Canadian Film of 2014. Check out some of his amzing work here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR-vmdkILNc
Producer: Joanne Lubeck Esser
Joanne is a proud member of the Screen Actors Guild and the Actors Equity Association, and is a professional TV, film and theatre actor. Her expertise as an actor has lead her to the other side of the camera, serving as Associate Producer on two feature-length, cause-based documentaries— CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap, and bias.
Graphic Designer: Scott Payne
Australian based artist, Scott Payne, is a self-taught visual artist, illustrator and digital artist who has been drawing and creating his whole life.
Sin Dial will be visually thrilling thanks to the help of our VFX Supervisor who has years of experience working with the premier motion picture visual effects companies.
Sin Dial will be elevated by chilling audio from actual recordings I took while in the presence of the demon.
Because we are using actual sound recordings from the house where the attacks occurred, we need to execute our sound design in the most optimal way, and so we turn to the best in the business to make this happen. We are confident this found footage will elevate our film, and make the final sound design that much creepier.
We're utilizing Christmas creepiness.
Christmas is always a great time to set a horror film and ours take place over the five days leading up to Christmas. Yuletide music can also be creepy, especially when using a very popular Christmas song in quite a horrific way. Christmas decorations, nutcrackers, and dolls can all be used in a sinister manner if shot correctly and with evil intent.
As a filmmaker, my horror aesthetic lends itself to a more European look, utilizing less torture with blood/gore and leaning more towards suspense and mood. I love all kinds of horror films and have been a fan since seeing Halloween when I was ten years old. Kubrick's The Shining with its deliberate camera moves, fabulous soundtrack and mood is a prime example of my taste and a high bar we are looking to emulate in our film. Not showing everything is always a scarier choice and on our limited budget, we will be employing some old school in-camera shots to save money, while employing realism as well. Francis Ford Coppola's fabulous Bram Stoker's Dracula is a great example of a film using older techniques while still looking incredible.
We are looking to cast actors that are not only talented but also racially diverse for our project. We have our eyes on a few notable actors at this time and will be announcing casting choices as we move along in the process. We also are on the hunt for our dog, Bridget, which I am sure will be a very tough part to cast!
We are planning on shooting the film in 4K and will be using the best equipment we can get our hands on. Lighting and color will be integral to the look of our film. We are planning on pulling color as the film progresses to show how our couple is having the life sucked out of them by the demonic presence in the house.
This film is based on my life and I have high expectations for the final product. I want it to look and sound as accurate as possible, and I want to relay the unbelievable horror of residing with a malicious demon. I believe that the events of this film will blow your mind - they certainly sent me reeling to the precipice of sanity on multiple occasions. Mostly, I want our story out there because it changed my idea of the paranormal forever-- and it might change yours as well.
That's where you come in. If you have goosebumps already, please join our innermost circle of supporters by donating to this campaign. We're offering unique gifts that will be well worth it, and you'll be among the first to see our final masterpiece. It will be terrifying -- and best of all it's based on true events that happened to us. We hope you'll give us your support!
STRETCH GOAL!!!!
Once we have met our initial fundraising goal of $20,000, we would love to make it to our Stretched Freddy goal of $35,000! These additional funds will allow us to bring on an A-list Casting Director to immediately embark on our search for our lead actors.
Thank you to everyone for supporting our film - it means the world to us!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Make up and special effects
Costs $3,000
To ensure we have a great look with realistic blood and make up we need to raise additional funds.
Camera Equipment!!
Costs $3,000
We need a 4K camera, lenses and equipment to make sure our film looks as good as possible!
Creature Suit Design and Manufacture
Costs $5,000
Our creature needs to be terrifying and to ensure that it is we need to create a creature suit!
Casting Director
Costs $2,000
We need to find our actors for the film and make sure we are getting the best people we can!
Props
Costs $2,500
X-Mas props for our film are required as it is set at Christmas! Creepy toys are always fun as well!
Sound Equipment
Costs $2,500
We need to capture great sound on location so we need the best sound equipment we can afford!
Wardrobe
Costs $2,000
We need to create fabulous clothes for the ghostly Mr Buttercrust and the cast to wear.
Cash Pledge
Costs $0
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
Director / Executive Producer / Story:
Brett Payne
Born and raised in Australia before moving to London and then finally settling down in the USA, Brett brings his unique passion and vision for this film as somebody who has lived through a real life haunting. He has had many careers in his life, as a former Chef, Sales Manager, Porsche salesman to name a few. But as a teenager living in London the acting bug and the magic of film drew him in and he has been a devotee every since. He is a student of film with some of his favorite filmakers being: Hitchcock, Kubrick, Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood, John Carpenter, Terry Gilliam, Spielberg and Ridley Scott as well as many, many others too numerous to list. As a manager of people both in the kitchen and in the automotive world getting people to do what you need to get a project done, delegating resources, making decisions in the heat of the moment is the key to success. Credits include Producer on Wilt (horror short), Producer on One in Five (drama short).
Screenwriter:
Arika Cullen
Arika Cullen is a professional writer and filmmaker, having brought several award-winning short film projects to screen. She earned her MFA in creative writing from Full Sail University and has since penned several scripts for both short and feature length films. Her scripts have made it to the finals and semi-finals of various writing competitions, including the Screencraft Screenwriting Fellowship contest. Miss Cullen is a survivor of both domestic violence and religious abuse; her history inspires her to tell dark stories, some with a note of hope... and some without.
Composer / Sound Designer:
Andrew T. Mackay
Andrew is an award winning British classically trained composer, producer & arranger. He is also the co-founder alongside Garry Hughes of the popular electronica/world music act Bombay Dub Orchestra. His music often fuses orchestral with folk and traditional elements of music from the film's region. His most recent films are 'Hamid' by Aijaz Khan, the Marathi feature 'Raakshas' by Dnyanesh Zoting, 'The Music Teacher' by Sarthak Das Gupta as well as 'Long Live Brij Mohan' by Nikhil Bhat.
Andrew also scored Sturla Gunnarsson's feature doc 'Monsoon' which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2014 and won the Peoples Choice Award for the best Canadian Film of 2014. In 2015 he scored Katherine Kingland's feature documentary 'In Rajasthan' which has gone on to win awards around the festival circuit.
His debut feature score for the film 'Little Box Of Sweets' by writer/director Meneka Das won the Grand Jury Award for Best Music at The South Asian International Film Festival of New York in 2008. He has also produced several films including the award winning short 'La Lune Folle' also by Meneka Das.
His company Bohemia Junction Ltd exclusively represents Abbey Road Studios for India as well as the FAMES Project's Macedonian Symphonic Orchestra and has recorded the scores for dozen's of Indian films over the last five years including scores by the likes of A.R. Rahman and Santhosh Narayanan among many others. He is the Director of India's first ever Composers Lab which started in 2013 as part Mumbai Film Festival in association with Abbey Road, PRS for Music UK and supported by BMI. He also co-curates Song Writing Camps in India and the UK working alongside the likes of BMI and APRA.
Producer:
Joanne Lubeck Esser
Joanne received her BFA in Dramatic Arts from UC Santa Barbara, and has since been working as a professional Actor in TV, Film and Theatre. In 2015, she joined the Finish Line Features team where she has served as Associate Producer on two award-winning feature-length documentaries— CODE: Debugging the Gender Gap, and bias—as well as one short film, Tino. Joanne also serves as a liaison between the film team and its many partners, coordinates private screenings and speaking engagements, and supports production both on and off set.
Joanne is thrilled to be joining the Sin Dial production team, and is looking forward to being an instrumental part in bringing this horror feature to life. Joanne lives with her husband and two little girls in Marin County. She is a proud member of the Screen Actors Guild and the Actors Equity Association.
Graphic Designer:
Scott Payne
Australian based artist, Scott Payne, is a self-taught visual artist, illustrator and digital artist who has been drawing and creating his whole life. School was a blur of drawing dragons, creatures and comics during class and extending this to various art shows and creative endeavours as a student. A pursuit of a fine arts degree followed and then a foray into the digital world had Scott hooked, with a transition from traditional mediums to digital, Scott was able to pursue his passion for creature and character design and comic art. Heavily influenced in his early years by Frank Frazetta, John Buscema and Jim Lee, Scott has developed his own unique style and design with his creatures and characters. Scott’s artwork presents across a range of styles including surrealism, personal paintings with an arrangement of colourful elements that tell a story and take the viewer into another world, conceptual art and comic art.
Scott has collaborated with international artists, is currently a feature artist with Corel Painter, worked on commission pieces and delved into design work with some well-known Australian companies.