Our story begins at an isolated sleep away camp in the countryside of Elizaville, New York. An 8 year old boy weeps for his parents as they drive away. It's his first day of sleep away camp. Just when all hope seems lost, a smiling man guides the weeping child into a strange, white shed nestled behind an aging staircase. This is the Film Shack. Despite its size, the shelter contains the secret ingredients to a limitless collection of stories just waiting to be told.
"I'm scared of monsters but I love them."
That's the mantra I've lived by since childhood. No matter how many nightmares each episode of "Scooby-Doo" gave me, I would just keep coming back for more. The dreams tortured me, traumatized me even, but there was something about the world of the macabre that kept dragging me closer with its elongated claws. Halloween had always been my favorite day of the year. It was the one day where I could truly express myself. My passions. My odd fascination with the undead.
When I started my first summer at Camp Scatico in the Summer of 2009, I would've never thought I'd go on to spend 10 more summers at the sleepy lakeside camp. The offering of a film "activity" and the ability to make small films with your camp friends was something I had never had the opportunity to do before. What's better than making short films with your new summer best friends? Making horror short films with your new Summer best friends.
I finally had an outlet to express my weirdness alongside excited, and like-minded, individuals. We quickly got to work mapping out and prepping our first camp movie: "Skull Manor." The story followed a villainous Reaper character who sought out to trick and then kidnap three unsuspecting average joes in his haunted manor. It was no Oscar-winner, but we did end up making a reboot years later with our improved skills and equipment.
Surrounding myself with some of the best friends I've ever had to this day, we became known as the Zomboyz. A group of weird, little campers jumping at any opportunity to get messy with fake blood or bones. From there, the moniker ZOMBOY PRODUCTIONZ emerged from the crypts.
After each Summer, I'd take my filmmaking passion along with me for the school year. I'd force my friends and family to play dead, get eaten by zombies, or even run around with a knife all while I giggled like a maniac behind my tripod and camera. Short horror filmmaking became a reflex for me. I didn't need a script, just simply a willing friend and a bag full of old Halloween costumes. Starting in 2012 I began uploading all of these shorts onto my YouTube Channel.
10 years later, new horror experiences are still getting uploaded to the account.
It's time for the next step.
-Noah Levine
