UNCANNY VALLEY - Indie Short Film

Sometimes you have to get lost to find yourself.

Uncanny Valley is a 20-minute psychological drama/horror short film set in the Australian bush in the 1980s. After a camping trip tragedy leaves them fighting to survive, a young couple come face to face with their future selves.

Though the story deals with doppelgängers and dark, existential questions, our young heroes contribute humour and a great deal of heart as they bond through their ordeal. After all - isn’t that what makes life worth fighting for?

Filmed in the beautiful Hunter Valley region, Uncanny Valley is full of twists, turns, and discoveries as Peter and Jodie confront fears both real and imagined. We can’t wait to bring it to life.

Read on to find out more and meet the fantastic team behind the film, plus how you can help!

Meet the cast and crew

This film wouldn't be possible without the generosity and enthusiasm of dozens of individuals contributing their time and talents!

Heading the team is the 'Director Trifecta' and co-producing trio, Steph Grey (Uncanny Valley's writer/director), Lili Carter (our superb cinematographer and drone pilot), and Austin Brook (our seasoned pro and admirable 1st AD).

We are joined by the highly skilled Emily Doyle as our production designer and make-up artist, the wonderful John Thomas (also known as Duncan!) as gaffer (and all-important data wrangler), Jack Khoo as our excellent 1st AC, and the delightful Evie Cole as our sound recordist.

Helping us on set, we have quite a crew: dream team Koa Ryan and Tarni Cruickshank coming along as our invaluable behind-the-scenes photographers, with fellow filmmaking friend Hunter Leech, the inimitable Matthew Lewis, the lovely Jack Lewis, and very generous Jack Lavercombe joining us as production assistants - as well as everyone's favourite location scout and ninja turtle extra, James Foody. Our tremendous gratitude also to the multi-skilled Courtney Watts, who is overseeing production as intimacy coordinator among her many other projects.

On the post-production team, we've got the magnificent Tate Rutter (also known as Tate Archer) on music production and sound design, along with a score from the soundtrack maestro Sidd Kumar, and an 80s-era track by brilliant local musician Kofi Harara! We're also incredibly lucky to have the in-demand Lochie Vardy as our graphic designer, the famous Nathan Winslow on sound editing, the extraordinary Pete Danks as our colourist, and the phenomenal Joshua O'Sullivan working with Steph to edit the final product.

Rounding out the crew are our noble 1st and 2nd Moral Support Officers, Wil Negline and Leto Oxenham, who continue to cheer us on at every step!

Meanwhile, we are thrilled to announce our dream cast: starring as our leads, Peter and Jodie, are the exceptional Finn Middleton and radiant Leah Ashwood! Uncanny in likeness and equally wonderful actors are Ken Welsh and Leila Wedd, playing the couple's doppelgängers 'Pete' and 'Jo'. Last but not least, we're glad to feature young stars Logan and Kyra as young Peter and Jodie to complete our cast!

A note from the director, Steph:

It's an incredible honour to lead this creative team as the writer and director of Uncanny Valley. Over the past few months, this project has grown from an idea to a major project with an extraordinary crew. Meanwhile, auditions, callbacks and chemistry tests helped us find our dream cast, whose physical likenesses between younger/older versions of our characters lend the story its distinctly uncanny quality. Inspired by films and shows like Monster, Dark, Black Mirror, and Picnic at Hanging Rock, this is an 80s-era film about bravery in the face of existential fear - but we need your help to make it a reality.

How you can help

Your donation will help us cover a variety of costs including equipment, era-authentic production design, location costs, and catering for our cast and crew as we shoot on location in the Hunter Valley and Central Coast over a period of ten days.

Production Timeline

Pre-production (early August through October)

Pitching the project, regular production meetings, cast and crew callouts, location scouting, auditions, callbacks, briefings on lighting/music/editing, chemistry tests, costume shopping, script revisions, plenty of paperwork, and a table read with cast and crew (great fun!).

Production (October/November)

Day 1 - 8th October, Newcastle

Days 2-7 - 17th-22nd October (for a cast/crew trip to Barrington Tops!)

Days 8-10 - 5-7th November, Central Coast/Ourimbah

Post-production (Late October through January)

Will involve poster design, editing a trailer, data wrangling, editing, colour grading, graphic design, our musicians writing an original score, sound design, and creating a festival submissions timeline for early 2025.

Once we’ve wrapped post-production, Uncanny Valley will hit the international festival circuit. As young Australian filmmakers, we can’t wait to share our passion project with the world.

Sharing the campaign on social media will help us reach our funding target and is a great way to show your support. We're also pleased to announce that every donation of $20 or more will receive a thank-you credit in the final film!

For more, check out our pitch deck:

UNCANNY VALLEY - Pitch Deck

Thank you for every cent and kind word of support,

The Uncanny Valley cast and crew