Indie filmmaker of the day: Jeffery Thompson

Jeffery Thompson is an American filmmaker who has recently finished an animatic (animated storyboard) he hopes will soon be transformed into the first four minutes of his first live-action horror feature film, The Legend of Carrico Road. Indie horror films have seen a resurgence in the last few years – could Thompson and his film be a fresh new voice to add to the growing list of cutting-edge new directors?

The Legend of Carrico Road is a slasher story set in rural Missouri. The animated pitch depicts the opening scene, in which two police officers are sent to investigate a disturbance in an area plagued by an urban legend.

The animatic was produced by Machina, a company that Thompson co-owns (along with partners Dimas Seto Fijri, Raka Putra, Iqbal Ismi Naufal, Tom Connors, and Muhammad Rahmadyo Narendra).

The feature length script has already drawn favorable comparisons with Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes, as well as receiving praise from Tony Rosen, who worked on the visual effects for The Conjuring and Annabelle.

Thompson described the purpose of the short as showing his “directorial vision” and mentioned its value as intellectual property: “. . . we hope this can and will eventually go viral, which will only add to the IP itself.”

Asked whether he sees the film as providing sociopolitical commentary in any way, Thompson added, “I think this film will be political/social because of the issue at hand within the film. But, I don’t want to preach per se to any political side . . . . I just want it to be an entertaining film that people can enjoy.

“Art is subjective. If a person has a certain takeaway from it, that’s good. If not, that’s good too.”

See what you think by watching the film at the link below. We think it looks absolutely great!