YouTuber Chris Stuckmann is thrilled that his horror film is being picked up by Longlegs

July 16, 2024

Film review: The horror film “Shelby Oaks” by YouTuber Chris Stuckmann was picked up by the Longlegs distributor Neon.

Neon bought the worldwide rights to the film before it opened to audiences at the Fantasia Festival on July 20. Stuckmann has been working on Shelby Oaks for years, launched a Kickstarter campaign for the film in 2022 and raised over $1 million for the production from 14,000 backers.

According to Stuckmann, the film will be released in US theaters in 2025.

“I’m just over the moon that Neon saw something in this, and I honestly can’t believe it. They were a dream company. When I was making this movie and someone came to me and asked, ‘Where would you like this movie to be set?’ I would have said Neon,” Stuckmann said in a video announcing the company’s purchase of the rights to his film.

The veteran YouTuber has kept his fans updated on the film’s production by uploading videos specifically about the project to his channel or by posting announcements in his regular review content. He also took a break from YouTube during the film’s production.

Stuckmann has also set up a website for the film, offering promotional materials and merchandise for sale to help further fund the project. Shelby Oaks was written by Stuckmann and will be the writer’s directorial debut.

The film follows Mia and her search for her sister Riley, a YouTuber who studies paranormal phenomena and disappeared after an investigation.

Neon has compiled a long list of box office and critically acclaimed films over the past few years, including hits like the recent Longlegs, Immaculate starring Sydney Sweeny, and the Oscar-winning Anatomy of the Fall, to name a few.

The distributor is not the first major Hollywood company to give a YouTube filmmaker a chance. A24 released Talk to Me in 2023, which featured YouTube duo Danny and Michael Philippou making horror short films.

Fans of Stuckmann have been patiently waiting for this film since before the 2022 Kickstarter campaign, as the creator has been open about writing a feature film for years. Now fans only have to wait a few months to see the YouTuber’s work come to light.