Reaper Film Festival Invitation
Women in Film presents “The Scythe Award”
Halloween-Season Event in Los Angeles Combines Worldwide Distribution and Women In Film Collaboration With an Immersive Experience
The old catch-22s became paywalls. We built Reaper to help filmmakers break through them and reach real opportunities on the other side.”— Judah Ray, Festival Director, Reaper Film Festival
LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, September 17, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Reaper Film Festival, a newly established Los Angeles horror and genre event launched by active filmmakers, is set to host its debut screening and awards ceremony on Oct. 22, 2026, at The Earl in Los Angeles. Reaper is founded on a core commitment: every film named an Official Selection receives non-exclusive worldwide distribution via Bloodstream TV, ensuring chosen shorts extend far beyond the festival circuit.
The Oct. 22 gathering is crafted as an immersive affair rather than a standard evening of passive viewing. From 6 p.m. until 2 a.m., The Earl’s three rooms and patio will transform into a Halloween-themed, haunted-house-inspired setting complete with horror props, costumed performers, and an audience invited to laugh, scream, and react openly. The schedule features three 45-minute screening segments with built-in intermissions designed for mingling, networking, and discovery.
Costumes, beverages, a silent costume competition, audience engagement, awards, prize giveaways, and a collective toast are all part of the evening. Reaper encourages its audience to respond vocally to the films, offering creators something rare from typical festival screenings: raw, immediate reactions from a live crowd.
During breaks between screening blocks, filmmakers, actors, producers, distributors, invited industry insiders, and up-and-coming talent will have structured time to connect. With attendance limited to 200, the night maintains an intimate atmosphere conducive to genuine conversations, bringing together seasoned professionals, studio representatives, independent creators, first-timers, and emerging voices.
The festival was conceived around the idea that a film festival’s most impactful moments often occur after the credits roll: a chat that links a filmmaker with a producer, an actor with a director, a writer with a future collaborator, or two strangers who realize they should create films together for years ahead.
The result aims to be a blend of film festival, industry mixer, and Halloween celebration: a venue to uncover new work, honor the horror genre, enjoy a memorable night, and forge unexpected professional and artistic bonds that could spark future projects.
That experience is paired with a filmmaker-centered philosophy. Reaper maintains intentionally low submission fees, openly shares its evaluation criteria, and ensures that selection carries tangible benefits. The Grand Prize recipient earns the opportunity to present a feature concept directly to Bloodstream TV and Studio Dome for potential funding and development, along with industry consultations, the Reaper trophy, and prominent placement on the Bloodstream TV homepage.
“Independent filmmakers are still facing the same catch-22. The old gatekeepers have been replaced by paywalls,” said Judah Ray, festival director and founder of A-Level Pictures. “We kept Reaper’s entry fees low because filmmakers should not have to spend a fortune just to get a foot in the door. An Official Selection gives them a live Los Angeles audience, real industry access, the opportunity to earn from a short film that may otherwise never make money, and, most importantly, the chance to take a film that might normally reach only a small audience and put it in front of viewers worldwide.”
“Short filmmakers have very few real opportunities to monetize their work. Reaper is built to change that,” said David Josh Lawrence, founder of Reaper Film Festival and Head of Acquisitions at Studio Dome. “Through BloodStream TV, filmmakers can reach a wider audience, generate revenue, and learn how distribution works without compromising what makes their voices unique.”
Reaper is also debuting The Scythe Award, presented by Women In Film, for films produced and/or directed by a woman. The honoree receives one-on-one consultations with Bloodstream TV programmer Heidi Honeycutt and producer and casting director Kimberly Skyrme, a professional pitch deck from Deck Syndicate, VIP festival access and additional prizes and benefits.
Screenwriters also have a dedicated pathway: every script is read and scored, the top five finalists receive one-on-one consultations and first-look consideration from the festival team and partners, and the winning screenplay is announced live at the festival.
The 2026 jury will also feature a special Scream Queen Judge to be announced. She is joined by the Reaper judges: Marcus J. McGill, executive producer of Terrifier; James Cullen Bressack of I Have Proof; Jason Neese of The Umbrella Academy; Kimberly Skyrme of Cut Shoot Kill; Jesse Kove of Scream Boat; Gigi Saul Guerrero of The Purge and Bingo Hell; Jonathan Martin, founder of FilmQuest; Michael Yedwab of Monster Party; Rachel Paulson of Stuck; JP Ouellette of Affection; David M. Parks of Static Codes; Michael Pickle of The Dead Place; and Sunny Zhao of The Gift.
The festival is presented by Judah Ray of A-Level Pictures, David Josh Lawrence of Studio Dome and Bloodstream TV, and Claire McLeod Hill of Controlled Chaos and Top of the Hill Productions. With Bloodstream TV and Studio Dome providing distribution and development access, Reaper connects its live festival experience directly to meaningful opportunities beyond the screening room.
Reaper also publishes its judging process. Every eligible film and screenplay is watched or read in full and assigned to at least two independent reviewers. First-round review is conducted blind wherever practical; entries are scored against a defined rubric, and significant scoring disagreements trigger an additional review before finalist deliberation. No algorithms. No skim-and-score. The goal is simple: the work should matter more than the name attached to it.
Submissions remain open through Oct. 14 via FilmFreeway for completed horror and horror-adjacent short films under 15 minutes, The Scythe Award category, and original short horror and horror-adjacent screenplays of 10 pages or fewer. Attendance is encouraged but is not required to be judged, selected, win, or receive applicable distribution.
About Reaper Film Festival
The Reaper Film Festival is an independent Los Angeles horror and genre festival founded by filmmakers to create practical opportunities for emerging filmmakers and screenwriters. Reaper combines live exhibition, transparent judging, worldwide streaming distribution, industry access, and an immersive event experience. Its inaugural event takes place Oct. 22, 2026, from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. at The Earl in Los Angeles.
Judah Ray
Reaper Film Festival LLC
info@rprff.com
