By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The winner of multiple festival awards is now available for general viewing.
FOLLOWER, the latest short film by writer/director Scott W. Perry (IN FEAR OF), has been released to YouTube and can be viewed below. Produced by Perry with editor/cinematographer Stolis Hadjicharalmbous, it stars Heather Drew and Patrick Devaney. The synopsis: “FOLLOWER is about a cult survivor [Drew] interrogated by a determined detective [Devaney] about the intricate dealings of cult leader Andew Langford, his evil intentions, and disturbing mindset.”
“FOLLOWER was created specifically out of interest in cults,” Perry tells RUE MORGUE, “and how easily one can be manipulated by words to do unbelievable things based on a feeling of connection. Since the advent of social media, it has become more available for people to spread messages of hate disguised as love. I feel like we are in a time where I’ve never seen so many people desperate for any kind of connection, they are willing to accept the vilest traits in people in order to be part of something more.”
The filmmaker adds that he wrote the two lead roles with Drew and Devaney in mind. “I’ve known both for years and they had never acted together in a movie, despite working together in different departments. When I presented both with the story, we all agreed that this had the possibility of being something really special. With Stolis as producer and cinematographer, we set out on a six-month rehearsal process on acting, script, production, and direction before we shot at Drake Media Studios in Melville—the site of the former TV55 building, where I had my first internship in 1993.”
FOLLOWER began its festival tour in 2023 and has racked up three Best Short Film awards and Best Actor prizes for Drew and Devaney, and played at Kevin Smith’s historic SmodCastle Cinemas. Perry is currently in midst of assembling funding for a pair of feature projects: “An action thriller called D.O.T. with associate producer and attached actor Jennifer Blanc-Biehn, and THE FEAR COLLECTOR, a horror anthology that is the spiritual successor of the IN FEAR OF web series.”
