Darkbox.
The Thing in the Hall
A modern gothic psychological horror film
Project Status:
In Development - Shooting FALL 2026
Genre:
Gothic / Psychological Horror
Writer / Producer
Logan Kishi
The Thing In The Hall reimagines a classic Gothic ghost story through the eyes of a psychology student investigating his friend's attempts to contact the dead. Told through testimony following a fatal incident, the film combines psychological horror with the structure of a legal thriller.
Bridging gripping suspense with psychological horror, The Thing in the Hall cultivates a distinct, chilling atmosphere where everyday spaces warp into a haunting manifestation of guilt.
Writer / Producer / Director:
Logan Kishi is an award-winning filmmaker focused on elevated, character-driven genre storytelling. With over a decade of experience in the entertainment industry including 15+ years as a SAG-AFTRA actor, he developed a deep understanding of narrative through performance before transitioning into writing and producing. His work includes seven short films that have screened at festivals across the U.S., earning accolades such as Best Director, Best Horror, and 48 Hour Film Winner. The Thing in the Hall marks his debut feature film, with the script already recognized on the Gold List at the British Independent Film Festival 2026 and a Finalist in the Oxford Script Awards.
"I have been in the entertainment industry since I was five years old, beginning as a child actor and gradually growing into writing, directing, and producing. The Thing in the Hall is my debut feature, and for me, it represents a chance to take everything I have learned from a lifetime around film and pour it into something meaningful."
We have already received encouraging feedback from people in the industry, including conversations with sales representatives and distributors at the American Film Market who saw real potential in the project. Since we are already beginning those conversations around sales and distribution, we are approaching The Thing in the Hall with the marketplace in mind from the start.
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This project is also the first major step toward building Darkbox Entertainment, a company I started, focused on values-driven stories and a clear path beyond production. We are currently raising funds to move forward with a strong production that can attract the right partners, support the level of talent we are pursuing, and bring this film to the next stage. By joining us now, you are helping bring The Thing in the Hall to life while also helping lay the foundation for Darkbox Entertainment and the larger vision behind it.
Why Horror & Thrillers Dominate Indie Film ROI
Independent film is fundamentally a game of minimizing risk and maximizing your potential returns. From a financial perspective, the psychological thriller and horror genres are the most lucrative in the entertainment industry.
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Statistically Superior Profit Rates: Data from the American Film Market shows that the baseline industry average for movie profitability across general cinema is just 43%. Horror completely defies this trend, with more than 52% of all genre films turning a net profit across their distribution lifecycle.
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Unmatched Box Office Multiples: According to historical entertainment box office tracking, successful low-budget genre films return an average of 8x their production budgets in ticket sales alone, doubling the average multiplier of any other film category. Recent indie breakouts have achieved even more staggering milestones, yielding up to a 4,500% return on investment.
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Built-In Target Audience: Thriller and horror fans are the most active, loyal, and vocal community in cinema. They don't require multi-million dollar A-list actors or massive CGI budgets to buy a ticket; they show up entirely for the premise, the atmospheric tension, and the psychological hook. This dramatically drives down our marketing overhead while maximizing global streaming and VOD demand.
To dive deeper into the economics of independent genre filmmaking, we highly encourage you to read the full American Film Market analysis.
Grounded in the tradition of elevated psychological thrillers like The Babadook, The Night House, and The Others, this project substitutes traditional creature feature tropes for visceral, real world suspense. By warping everyday environments into inescapable arenas of psychological tension, The Thing in the Hall taps into a highly profitable horror marketplace that prioritizes psychological depth and domestic dread.
Funding Strategy & Financial Milestones
To bring The Thing in the Hall to the screen, we have established clear financial benchmarks. Our master campaign target is $1,200,000, which accounts for standard platform fees, compliance overhead, and campaign administration. We have structured our financial milestones to secure a clear, protective net production budget cap of one million dollars ($1,000,000) dedicated entirely to making the film. Maintaining this firm ceiling keeps our expenditures tightly controlled, avoids unnecessary project complexity, and guarantees your capital goes directly into creating a high-caliber movie.
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Phase 1 - $100,000
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Escrow & Early Prep ($50,000 min raise to $100,000) Reaching our regulatory minimum allows us to clear escrow, finalize immediate location deposits, and engage key creative leadership, including our Line Producer and Production Designer, to lock down our filming schedules.
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Phase 2 - $500,000
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Fully Green Lit. Reaching this milestone marks our primary capital threshold. This funding allows us to fully secure principal cast commitments, initiate intensive pre-production prep, lock technical gear packages, and establish our core crew infrastructure.
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Phase 3 - $800,000+
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Production, Post & Value Add Capital This phase represents the absolute baseline required to take the film completely through principal photography and rough assembly editing. As funds climb toward our core production budget cap of $1,000,000, we secure the high production values for the project. Any additional gross funds raised above this core cap up to our master campaign target maximum are treated as strategic value-add reserves. This upper tier safely absorbs platform fees and compliance overhead, while dedicating all remaining net capital to theatrical color grading, sound mastering, an expanded production safety net, and the activation of initial commercial distribution and marketing.
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Budget Allocation (Based on Our $1M Production Cap)
Pitch Deck & Visual Blueprint
Our pitch deck is the visual roadmap for the film which bridges the gap between the written script and the final cinematic experience. It outlines the artistic vision and strategic plan for bringing The Thing In The Hall to the screen. Click above to explore our comprehensive deck for a deeper look at the visual style, core characters, and narrative structure, alongside the industry benchmarks guiding this psychological thriller to the screen.
