Teagan's Premiere Was a Banger!

This past weekend, we welcomed our newest baby boy into the world! Teagan and His Bros had its world premiere at The Comedy Festival in our beautiful home base city, Austin, TX!

Teagan the cat, with his bros, Connor, played by Mike Vera and Bobby, by Nathan Minger

Best of all, we won Best Screenplay, Best Texas series, and Best webseries/pilot/episodic of the whole fest! Here are some more pictures of the fun with the whole team who came out.

HUGE THANKS to Eric and the whole crew at The Comedy Festival for a blast of a fest. Stay tuned for more information soon about how you can watch Teagan too!

Raising Funds for Tasty Bones!

Ami here, reporting in live! The moment we’ve all been waiting for is here; Ronald is ready to shoot his next horror short—we’ve been in pre-production for a few months and we’re down to mere DAYS until the team packs up and hits the road to Indiana to film Tasty Bones………and we need your help!

Our last horror short, Body, not only won best Horror Comedy at both Tokyo Horror Film Festival and Hex After Dark in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, but also screened at Chattanooga Film Festival, Another Hole in the Head, Dark Red, Crimson Screen, Laugh After Dark, and various other festivals and showcases.

Now, we're embarking on a new micro-short horror tale, Tasty Bones, and we need your help to finish it and make it the best it can be. Let me set the scene for you…

Pete is out in the woods at a bonfire with some friends. They're drinking and having a good time. Seeing how much he's consumed, Pete feels the need to "break the seal." He stumbles off away from the group to drunkenly relieve himself at the edge of the trees.

As he does so, this drunk fool starts to whistle absentmindedly to himself. And, after a few moments...

Something in the woods whistles back.

If that lil snippet piques your interest in the slightest, here’s the poster for you to feast your eyes on next!

SURELY this amazing image is worth tossing a few bucks our way?! Thanks for considering! We want this lil mirco creep of a horror short in your eyeballs soon!

Celebrating Body's Festival Run!

Happy New Year from the SPI team! As we kick off 2025 and reflect on 2024, there’s much to be proud of: Breakfast To Go concluded its final festival stops, Ronald won Best Texas Actor at ARFF and took numerous acting, hosting, producing and podcast-featured-guest gigs, collaborating with so many of our favorite creatives. We enjoyed a We Luv Video screening of Good Feels on Wheels, we produced a new comedy webseries, we expanded our mission-based freelance work with nonprofits, and most prolifically of all, our horror short film Body went all over the world!

While Body’s festival run began in 2023 and may still have a 2025 screening or two unfold, 2024 was largely the year of Body for SPI. Here’s a quick look at its journey around the US and globe!

  • Way back in October of 2023, Body got a fabulous world premiere at the new Dark Red Film Fest in Albuquerque which Ronald attended on a blast of a bros trip and then SPI got international when Ami and Ronald headed to the great north at Hex After Dark in Calgary, Alberta, CA.

  • By November, Body was at a favorite Texas stop, the Lone Star Film Fest in Fort Worth and not far behind in December, the team was off to San Francisco’s Another Hole in the Head festival in the gorgeous bay area. The holiday season was predictably quiet, but the spring kicked off with a bang!

  • In February, Body had its home base screening at the always fan favorite Austin Revolution Film Festival. March marked a break for SXSW and other projects, but this was a rare quiet moment!

  • In April, Body first made a stop at Crimson Screen in South Carolina, a state Ami and Ronald had never been to before and were excited to explore before jetting over to the Indy Film Fest, in place all so familiar to the team and our hometown crew!

  • In May, Ronald couldn’t help but take a long weekend with our dear friends in the Windy City and Body had an audience with Chicago Horror Film Festival next!

  • By June, Body made a stop at another of our fave Texas fests, Hill Country Film Festival, where Ami had to fly solo for the first time at a fest as Ronald was out of state on a set.

  • June was a big month for Body as next up, Ami and Ronald jetted off to Chattanooga Film Festival where they had a total BLAST with friends, old and new. The spirit, fun, and culture of this fest blew us away! Lead actor and Executive Producer Aaron Hale, joined us there, too.

  • July brought one of our most exciting screenings as Body made it to its furthest flung audience, when we played at Tokyo Horror Film Festival in Japan! Frankly, we were devastated not to be able to attend this one and are SO HONORED that we won the best horror comedy award from our international friends!

  • August brought Cabin in the Woods in Seattle and SPI’s first ever PNW or Washington-based audiences.

  • In October, as a horror film, Body got EXTRA busy, in the best way! Ronald headed off to Laugh After Dark in Las Vegas where Body got to have an audience with such a cool crew in Sin city!

  • Then Body flew off to Port Huron, MI for the Desmond District Demons Festival shortly before it had its fourth screening in its home state, where Ronald headed down I35 to San Marcos for the Lost River Film Festival.

  • Body’s last screening (as far as we know for now) arrived for our 5th Texas stop with a trip to the ever-fun Reel East Film Festival in Kilgore, Texas!

No project has ever gone further and done more for SPI than Body! We are so grateful to everyone who put in their time, talent, hearts, and care into this special project, and all the programmers, audiences, and friends who shared with us in embracing this 6 minute gory, giggly, gross, glorious flick!


Announcing deep discounts for mission-based projects!

Hey everyone! This blog is typically curated by Ronald, but this is Ami hopping in to share an exciting project I’ve been working on under the SPI umbrella.

As a nonprofit professional, I often hear my friends at other organizations wishing they could make video products to help tell their mission stories, but find the big production companies in town cost prohibitive, so they just fully go without the video products they dream of…but I don’t think it has to be this way.

In nonprofits, we’re creative and flexible and being partnered with a similarly scrappy-minded DIY indie filmmaker like Ronald, I saw an opportunity for us to give back.

So we have launched a new Short Pictures Independent’s new Nonprofit Discount Video Program: Ronald, who is the creative solopreneur behind Short Pictures Independent (and why I am always traveling to film fests all over!) has now been expanding his philanthropic work though offering local nonprofits DEEPLY discounted rates for video projects.

As a resourceful, scrappy, independent artist, freelancer, and small business owner, he wants to cut out all the overhead and nonsense to quickly help agencies who have tiny budgets but big ideas be able to produce mission-driven videos more effectively.

To learn more, you can visit his interest form here, and Ronald will reach out to set up a Zoom conversation. He can only support a few projects like this at any given time because the rates he is offering in this program are not sustainable at scale financially 😃 But he is EXTRA inspired to get involved and give back right now!  

 

If you’re not a nonprofit person yourself, you may share these resources with values-aligned professionals and agencies who you think might benefit. But please keep in mind: while we are open to values aligned agencies of all kinds for both of these offers, these resources are primarily intended for grassroots, community-led, local agencies, typically w/ annal budgets of $2M or less.

We are especially interested in supporting missions which are led by people of color, LGBTQAI+, disabled individuals, and others who are historically excluded from accessing the resources they need to be successful.

Let us know if we can help your agency!

First Look at Teagan and His Bros!

Here’s your first look at our new series, Teagan and His Bros! What happens when two lovable loser stoners adopt a cat…who’s also a loser stoner? You’ll find out soon-ish enough! I love how this thing is shaping up and I can’t wait to share it with y’all. Title by Nathan Bayless color by Travis Ward, and starring Mike Vera and Nathan Minger, Teagan voiced by writer, director, producer, Ronald Short.

Watch Breakfast To Go online today!

We’re so honored and thrilled to announce Breakfast To Go, starring Ivy Le, Erik Anderson, and Ronald Short was asked to be a part of the newly launched Laugh After Dark website and streaming service!

It’s completely free to watch, you just have to sign up for an account, which not only gets you access to our film, but loads of other comedy flicks and stand-up comedy! Their team produces high quality stuff, so we highly recommend you check it out!

Ronald Wins Best Texas Actor at ARFF 2024!

Ronald here! Tonight, I won Best Texas Actor for my work in Rogue Alchemy Pictures’ Leverage (and I’d like to think my voice work and puppetry in Body pushed me over the edge) at Austin Revolution Film Festival.)


I really didn’t expect it in the slightest and it was a very pleasant surprise. Thank you to everyone at the fest for the support! Had to get a picture with Aaron Hale, who I haven’t seen in forever and big winner Erik Anderson who won best actor in the world or something. Congrats to all the winners!

Dog Gone makes it out of the vault again!

Ronald here! We’re back, babies!!! The SPI team will be back out at the next ATX Short Film Showcase to support the screening of our dark comedy short, Dog Gone! Justin, who runs the fest, told me we are going to be the first filmmakers to screen three projects at the Showcase! An honor I don’t take lightly.

This film was originally made in 2013 and I lost momentum on getting it finished due to a series of personal grief experiences. I’m so happy that it has had a chnce to finally find an audience this year.

If you’re in Austin, please come and support! We’re playing with some amazing films and it’s always a fantastic time. Plus, our star Kelli Bland will be there to answer questions with me!! See you there???

Grackle & Armie is in pre-production

We are excited to share that our next short film project in pre-production is something unlike anything that SPI has brought to life so far!

Set in Austin, Texas, in a world where real people and animal puppets co-exist, Grackle & Armie is a family tale about a grackle and an armadillo joining forces to make their dreams come true. Gracie Grackle feels down on her luck; she’s been living with her sister for two years, can’t find a job she enjoys doing, and her dating life is in the toilet. When she meets an Armadillo, named Armie, who invites her to join his band, Gracie is enchanted by the art of live music performance, like so many Austinites before her!

Here is a sneak peek of the incredible puppets my friend, Chadwick, made for this project based off of my sketches.

It’s a dream come true to have these characters come to life! Check out our look book to learn more and stay tuned for updates as we prepare to launch production on this thing.

In search of: More Collaborators!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with family and friends! Tomorrow is “Small Business Saturday” and I wanted to take a moment in recognition of this day to promote my own small business and what I’ve been up to lately. 

This year, I’ve branched out a bit from solely working on my own film projects to doing some freelance video work. My hope in 2022 is to increase my business a bit in this realm. I’ve also been hoping to get back out there doing more acting gigs as well. 

I’ve been busy updating my website to include more information about these ambitions. You can now see my latest headshots and acting reel at the “acting” page. The new “freelance” page displays some of my latest contract projects.

I’m available to be booked for all kinds of contract work, including: editing, video production (marketing or otherwise), acting, directing, screenwriting, etc. If you have a need in mind that I could help with, let’s start a convo! Or if you know someone kickstarting a project that I might be a good fit for, don’t hesitate to pass along my website.

If you have any film needs, I hope I will come to mind for you so that we can collaborate soon.

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!



The Rink's Online Premiere!

Long time no talk! I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but the world shutdown last year because of a virus (speaking of, you vaccinated yet??) and a lot of our stuff got derailed. We’re happy to say we’re getting back on track, though, and that process truly begins with the release of our last horror short we were able to shoot before COVID times, The Rink, just in time for Halloween!

The Rink is a neon soaked horror story of a proposal that goes to hell set in a roller rink somewhere in Texas. Recipient of Other Worlds Film Festival’s Dan O’Bannon Filmmaking Grant and the City of Austin Cultural Grant, the short screened in festivals all across the country in 2020. These included Horrible Imaginings, Indy Shorts International presented by Heartland Film, Adirondack Film Festival, Indy Film Fest, Lone Star Film Festival, and a few others. Though the festivals weren’t in person, the response was great and the virtual Q&A’s were a blast.

Now, the film has one last public screening in Austin and will be online shortly after. The Rink screens as part of Lake Travis Film Festival’s outdoor Screams on the Screen on Thursday, October 28th at 8pm. To secure your tickets (including for the pre-party where you get to rub elbows with the filmmakers), visit this link:

Lake Travis Film Festival presents Screams on the Screen

After that screening when the bell strikes midnight, The Rink will be online for all to enjoy! It will be officially available at 12:00am on October 29th. You can find it either on YouTube or Vimeo here:

YouTube

Vimeo

The YouTube has an official countdown to the premiere and everything! And the Vimeo will be password protected until midnight on the 29th (nice try to click it early, cheaters! I know you did!).

We are so excited to finally share this spooky film with you all. We’re really proud of it and think you’re going to dig it.

We’ll have more film updates soon! Until then, have a Happy Halloween!!

ColdTowne Theater Presents Good Feels On Wheels Details

We’re just two and half days away from our film, Good Feels On Wheels, being available for a limited time for your viewing pleasures. For those who haven’t heard, to celebrate our founder’s 35th birthday and to give some pandemic support to one of our favorite comedy theaters in Austin, ColdTowne Theater, we’re giving you the opportunity to watch Good Feels for 24 hours. Plus, the theater will host a screening of the film on their Twitch along with an exclusive Q&A after. Details below!

At 12:00am CST on the night of May 1st/morning of May 2nd, a Vimeo link with the film will go live for 24 hrs here:

https://vimeo.com/spiprod/goodfeels

On May 2nd at 7:00pm CST, ColdTowne Theater will present the film on their Twitch stream along with a Q&A after featuring writer/director Ronald Short and star Stephanie Thoreson hosted by Adam Protextor. Link to ColdTowne’s Twitch here:

twitch.tv/coldtownetv

Along with the screening via ColdTowne, we’ll be live tweeting along with the film from our production company’s Twitter. If you’d like to tweet with us, please use hashtag #GoodFeelsAtHome! Our Twitter can be found here:

https://twitter.com/spiproductions

For additional info or to support ColdTowne in this time of need, please visit their website. We look forward to sharing this experience with you this weekend!

Good Feels in Quarantine for Ronald's B-day Hosted by ColdTowne Theater!

On May 1st, our fearless leader, Ronald Short, turns 35. To celebrate, we're giving you the chance to see our award winning feature, Good Feels On Wheels, from the comfort of your home while raising money for one of our favorite comedy theaters in Austin, ColdTowne Theater!


At midnight on May 1st, Good Feels On Wheels will be available via Vimeo for your viewing pleasure for 24 hours. We'll post a link on here (and other places) once it’s available. You'll be able to watch the film wherever you are (which should be your house, damn it!) however many times you want.

Then, on Saturday May 2nd, we're going to have a watch party where Ronald will live tweet along with the film at 7:00pm CST via our production company's Twitter, @SPIproductions (so, give us a follow!). After the movie, we'll be having an online Q&A hosted by ColdTowne with Short and the star of the film, Stephanie Thoreson.

For more info and to stay up to date, visit our event on Facebook here.

Can’t wait to share and hear what you all think of our stoner romantic comedy!

The Rink's World Premiere at Other Worlds!

Good news, everyone! That horror short film we shot earlier this year WORLD PREMIERES tomorrow at Other Worlds Film Festival here in Austin, Texas! The Rink will screen as part of the Under Worlds Shorts: Dark Nights & Dark Thoughts block on Friday, December 6th at 4:30pm and Saturday, the 7th at 7:05pm.

The entire festival takes place at the newly revamped Galaxy Highland in north Austin and badges are still available. For more information on the festival and to buy a badge, visit their site. If there are any seats left after all the badge holders get in, tickets will be available for the general public.

Various cast and crew will be in attendance! So, we hope to see you there. If you love horror, you’re going to love this flick.

Also, Ronald was on Lights Camera Austin with the incomparable Robert Sims to do an interview on The Rink. Why not give it a listen to get you ready for our screenings this weekend? It’s only 15 minutes!

For the interview, click here. Hope to see you there!

Good Feels at Reel East Texas!

This Friday, November 15th, Good Feels On Wheels will be screening in Texas once more. We’ll be playing at 8:30pm at the Texas Broadcast Museum in Kilgore as part of the Reel East Film Festival! We’ve heard such great things about this festival and can’t wait to get out there and check it out. We’re also nominated for some awards, including:

  • Best actress

  • Best supporting actor

  • Best cinematography

  • Best director

  • Best comedy

  • Best Texas film

Can’t wait to see you out there! To buy tickets and/or a badge, visit their site.

Good Feels On Wheels East Coast Premiere!

Hello again! It’s been a while since we’ve had a chance to update on all the happenings. We’ve been a little overwhelmed. We screened Good Feels up in Bay City, Michigan a couple weeks ago at the Hell’s Half Mile Film Festival. It was a fantastic festival ran by some wonderful people. I highly recommend you attend and submit if you can.

And good news, everyone! There’s another chance to check out Good Feels this upcoming weekend. We’ll be screening TWICE (that’s right, TWICE) as part of the Adirondack Film Festival in upstate New York this Friday and Saturday. This is our East Coast premiere and we’re very excited to get out there for it. I’ll be there along with my lovely producer/wife, Ami Kane.

For tickets and schedule, visit their site.

Beyond Feels, we have a couple other projects on the horizon, one of which we recently held a small read through for. It went over like gangbusters and we’re super pumped to move forward on this. More info when we can share.

We hope to see you at AFF2019 this upcoming weekend!

Cheers,

Ronald

Good Feels Hometown Premiere is TONIGHT!

If you’re in Austin, Texas, tonight is your first (but hopefully not last) chance to see our newest feature length film, Good Feels On Wheels, on the big screen! We’re playing at the Austin Revolution Film Festival as part of the “You Be Illin’” block at the Crowne Plaza in north Austin at 8pm. For tickets and more info, visit this link:

Good Feels at Austin Revolution

To celebrate us finally screening in the ATX, we’re releasing WTFN?, our short film that actually screened at Austin Revolution last year and also won the award for Best Texas Comedy Short at the festival (we also won best Hoosier Lens Short at the Indy Film Fest with this one). It’s NSFW, but you’re going to love it.

Watch WTFN?

We hope to see you out there!

Dog Gone Online Now!

Holy cow, it has been a while! Apologies all around, we got wrapped up in the Kickstarter for The Rink and things are starting to calm down a bit. We hit our goal, by the way! That’s so exciting! Big thanks to everyone who supported us. More news on that one soon.

Today, we’re here to talk about Dog Gone. This is a short we shot in 2013, but life got in the way and this project got pushed to the wayside for a few years. Since we hit our goal, we figured why not share something to celebrate? Here’s a post that explains further what was behind the delay in the finishing of the film.

Facebook Post

And here’s the film itself!

Dog Gone

The film is a dark comedy starring Kelli Bland. It’s about a woman named Iris who comes to house and dog sit for her brother in Austin for a weekend. Unfortunately, it doesn't go as planned when she discovers the dog, Werner, is dead.

If you enjoy the film, please share with your friends! More updates on Good Feels, The Rink, and more soon. Keep your eyes peeled!

Good Feels Wins Best Actress, Screening in Indy, and The Rink Kickstarter Updates

Huge news everyone! Good Feels On Wheels screened at the Hill Country Film Festival this past weekend and our lead actress, the wonderful Stephanie Thoreson, took home the award for “Best Actress!” We were thrilled. Huge thanks to Hill Country for the honor and for a fun time in Fredericksburg!

Once we were back from HCFF, we screened the rough cut of The Rink for a small group of producers. There was no sound mix, music, or color tweaks, but everyone was still excited by the outcome. We’ve also just crossed the $1,000 mark on our Kickstarter campaign to finish said film. Have you checked our teaser trailer out yet? Please do and share across the interwebs!

Check it out, yo!

Finally, this weekend Good Feels On Wheels will be premiering in our hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana as part of the Indy Film Fest! We’ll be screening this Friday, May 3rd at 5pm along with Wednesday, May 8th at 7pm both at Newfields (previously known as the IMA). For more info and to get tickets, visit their site.

We hope to see you out there!