When two outcast teens hack into a ubiquitous drone delivery system to pull a prank on their neighbor, they accidentally crash-land a dangerous prototype

SKYWATCH is a short sci-fi thriller, starring Uriah Shelton, Zach Callison, with an appearance by Jude Law. Yes, the Jude Law. Shelton and Callison play two outcast teens who figure out how to hack into a drone delivery system – the Amazon of the future – to swap shipments in transit and pull a prank on the girl next door. After they accidentally crash a drone on their apartment rooftop, they scramble to cover their tracks – but stumble upon a corporate secret that puts their very lives in danger. The short doesn’t come from no one, as you might have already heard of Colin Levy right here on Film Shortage. Colin’s psychological thriller ‘The Secret Number‘ was featured on FS in 2012, winning none other than the Top short of that year. We had a short chat with Colin to tell us about his ambitious proof-of-concept.

How did the idea come about? Did you get a bad Amazon delivery?

I never feel like I have enough time – at any given point, there’s something important I’m neglecting. Sometimes it feels like an inconvenience to even have to eat. Ugh, do I really have to go to the grocery right now?

I found myself fantasizing about a future where fridges can restock themselves. What would that look like? How far off is this future, really? How would it impact the world? I kept returning to this thought experiment, and story ideas kept coming to me. I’ve been wanting to make a sci-fi action thriller since I first saw Minority Report at the age of 15, and I felt like this near-future world was rich with narrative potential for a story in that genre. The story about a teenage hacker who exposes the dark side of the system felt like a lot of my favorite movies mixed into one – and I knew I had to make it!

There are tons of graphic interface in the film. We absolutely love how you kept it user-friendly and not go over-the-top sci-fi futuristic. What was your design process?

I was really fortunate to work with some great graphic designers and concept artists on this project! We all shared a vision for how to keep it believable and grounded, yet visually clear and useful for the story. The process involved a lot of iteration over a period of months and years, but very proud of how it all came together. In particular I need to shout out Matt Bell (concept art) and Bailey Kalesti (graphic + motion design) for their incredible work!

Would like to ask how you got the cameo… but your video on ‘How to Get a World-Famous Actor for Your Short Film’ is just fantastic!

Haha, thanks so much!

Out of curiosity, what was your plan B if you couldn’t get a famous actor?

We would have just found / cast someone else – someone who you might not recognize, but could really send a chill down your spine. But we didn’t have any specific plans!

The film is certainly getting lots of traction online, what’s next for the Proof-of-Concept?

Thanks so much! It’s exciting to finally get to share it with the world. This was designed as a proof of concept for a feature film, for which I have written a screenplay – so I really hope that I get the chance to continue playing in the world of Skywatch. Since the short’s release last month there have been a lot of great meetings and conversations… the future is still cloudy but I’m cautiously optimistic!