A FILM BY CHRIS X MILES
A rising music producer builds her fame on samples from eerie anonymous cassette tapes, only to discover they are recordings of real violence…
and her next hit may demand a sacrifice of her own.
Synopsis
Zeena, a burned-out hip-hop producer and sound engineer, drifts between uninspiring studio sessions and her quiet library job, lying about a music career she wishes she had. Everything changes when she discovers a mysterious cassette labeled “MAKE.” Static, warped voices, and distant moans pour from the tape, and when Zeena samples it, she creates the most raw and hypnotic track of her life.
As her reputation grows and she falls for Serene, a magnetic vocalist who becomes both muse and lover, more cassettes arrive, each darker than the last, hinting at real violence. Zeena’s beats take on a cultish power, infecting her audiences and unlocking an addictive high she’s never felt before. But when a studio tech reveals himself as the source of the tapes and forces Zeena to witness a murder he records for her, her world fractures.
Haunted by guilt and craving the music’s power, Zeena teeters between complicity and survival. In a final, chilling session, she must decide whether to break the cycle or press record as the nightmare plays out before her.
nightcrawler X Longlegs
Nightcrawler, because it centers on an intensely ambitious protagonist whose obsession with a specific craft gradually corrodes their morality and humanity. Longlegs because of the unsettling, dreamlike sense of supernatural darkness, and at the center of both stories is a protagonist who becomes the object of fixation for a serial-killer figure whose obsession feels both personal and spiritually corrupted, lending the horror a lingering supernatural energy without relying on overt mythology or explanation.
Marketing
The marketing campaign for Analog would heavily embrace music culture, cassette-tape aesthetics, and mystery-driven horror marketing in the vein of Longlegs. Cassette tapes become the film’s central visual language, with different colors, handwritten labels, cryptic phrases like “MAKE” and “PRESS PLAY,” distorted packaging, and lo-fi analog imagery inspired by early-2000s mixtape culture.
A central interactive “Press Play” campaign could invite audiences to click cassette tapes online to unlock eerie audio snippets (distorted breaths, warped percussion, unsettling ambient textures) that gradually evolve into actual music as the campaign progresses, mirroring Zeena’s descent as she transforms violence into art. The goal is to create a viral, immersive experience built around sound, curiosity, and collectible imagery rather than traditional horror marketing.
The campaign also naturally lends itself to experiential marketing and festival buzz. Limited-edition cassette tapes, underground music collaborations, pop-up listening experiences, and horror/music crossover activations could help the film authentically connect with both genre audiences and music communities.
Analog is also highly festival-friendly, with its elevated psychological-horror approach, striking sonic identity, morally complex protagonist, and stylish early-2000s atmosphere, positioning it strongly for major genre and crossover festivals alike. Its unique blend of music obsession, serial-killer mythology, and arthouse horror gives it the kind of bold, conversation-starting identity that can generate strong word-of-mouth momentum coming out of premiere screenings.
Analog is a film where the music extends beyond atmosphere. Every beat, loop, and melody is an extension of Zeena’s emotional descent, a sonic diary of obsession, trauma, and power.
The film’s original music will draw inspiration from bold, genre-blurring indie artists like ABRA and Sevdaliza, combining:
▪ Indie Electronic textures and raw, aggressive, and percussive beats
▪ Haunting synths and spectral vocals that drift between dreamlike and ominous
▪ Gritty vocal sampling, tape hiss, vinyl crackle, the imperfection of analog sound as a storytelling device
▪ Melodic dissonance that reflects Zeena’s unraveling identity and increasingly blurred grip on reality
This sound palette will mirror the world of the film, moody, tactile, and shadowed by something unspoken. Zeena doesn’t just make music, she excavates it, reanimates it. Her compositions feel stitched together from ghosts, and as the story darkens, so does the music: slowing, warping, distorting, until it threatens to consume her.
The result is a score and soundtrack that are as emotionally layered and unsettling as the narrative itself, equal parts Electronic, horror, and hallucination.
OUR VOICES in ELEvated HORROR
Analog stands out in the current horror landscape by combining elevated psychological horror with a perspective and creative voice that still feel rare in the genre. Centered on a predominantly black cast and led by queer women protagonists, the film is also being shaped behind the camera by a black, brown, and queer creative team, bringing authenticity and specificity to its world.
Rather than treating representation as surface-level, Analog weaves its identity directly into the story, exploring themes of race in the music industry, the emotional and psychological cost of artistic ambition, and the dangerous sacrifices people make in pursuit of success, recognition, and creative immortality. The result is a stylish, emotionally charged horror film that feels culturally relevant, thematically layered, and uniquely positioned within today’s media landscape.
ZEENA
Zeena is a 24-year-old music producer from Chicago’s south suburbs, fiercely devoted to her craft and a purist at heart, favoring traditional analog production over digital shortcuts. Her personal life is far less disciplined. She shares an on-again, off-again relationship with Serene, drawn to her intensity but frustrated by her unpredictability and impulsivity. Zeena is also semi-estranged from her family, whose disapproval of her lifestyle choices has left her isolated but determined to chart her own path.
SERENE
Serene is a 27-year-old singer and hairstylist from Chicago’s West Side.
Once deeply invested in her music career, she was poised for a breakthrough on tour with a local artist when an unexpected pregnancy shifted her path. After preparing for motherhood only to suffer a miscarriage, Serene returned home and rebuilt her life, finding joy in new pursuits and discovering love along the way. Her relationship with Zeena grew complicated during this time, Serene was still coming to terms with her own identity and came out shortly after the tour ordeal.
BURNER
Burner is a longtime friend of Zeena and feels like an older brother to her. He has deep roots in the music scene and a network that stretches across the industry. His guidance has been a major part of helping Zeena refine her sound and reach a new audience. Burner is someone she trusts completely and often turns to for advice. He is both a steady presence and a confidant who keeps her grounded when the world around her gets loud.
HESS
Hess is a quiet, thin, and unnervingly aloof audio technician who works in the same studio as Zeena. He keeps to himself, rarely socializes, and moves through the workspace like a ghost, present yet never really seen. No one knows much about his personal life: where he’s from, if he has family, or even what he does outside of studio hours. He doesn’t volunteer information, and no one ever remembers asking.
MILES AUGUST
Writer/Director
Miles August is a multi-disciplinary filmmaker, visual artist, and music composer. After spending over a decade creating music for himself and other artists, he transitioned into visual storytelling and studied Graphic Design at the Illinois Institute of Art. It was during this time that he discovered photography and filmmaking, developing a distinct cinematic style that blends mood, atmosphere, and emotional depth.
Miles has since built a career in digital advertising while continuing to create independent work and music. In 2023, he founded Notra Films, producing short-form documentaries and narrative projects for clients and collaborators. Most recently, he co-directed the short films The Girl in the Street and SILK.
Chris Paicely
Writer/Director
Chris Paicely has been a storyteller his entire life. From writing and recording songs with friends on the east side of Indianapolis to crafting investigative pieces as a journalist for Huffington Post and Uproxx, Chris has always been drawn to the transformative power of narrative. After earning a Master of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University, he reported on education and politics across Chicagoland before transitioning into public relations and marketing.
In 2020, Chris founded StoryPaced, a video production company, where he has led marketing and storytelling projects for clients across the United States. As the co-founder of Swym Good Films, Chris frequently collaborates with Miles August. Together, they wrote and directed the award-winning science-fiction short ALUS and have recently completed two new films, The Girl in the Street and SILK.
Lana MAttice
Director of Photography
Lana Mattice is a Chicago-based cinematographer and photographer known for her intuitive visual storytelling and adaptable, solutions-driven approach on set. As owner of KOI Media Productions, she brings a refined eye for composition and lighting across both commercial and narrative work. Lana served as Director of Photography on SILK and The Girl in the Street, where her shot design, camera movement, and instinct for atmosphere were instrumental in crafting each film’s visual tone. Her collaboration with Chris and Miles helped translate their psychological and surreal concepts into striking cinematic imagery, grounding the films’ tension and world-building through texture, framing, and mood.
Whether shooting branded content or narrative work, Lana is deeply focused on storytelling through image, balancing technical precision with emotional clarity to elevate every frame.
Jasmine Gragg
Producer/Production manager
Jasmine Gragg is a Chicago-based producer and production manager known for her sharp organizational instincts, collaborative leadership, and ability to bring ambitious indie films from concept to completion. She served as a lead producer on SILK and The Girl in the Street, where she played a pivotal role in securing locations, managing logistics, and guiding daily production operations from early development through final delivery.
In addition to her narrative work, Jasmine is also an Executive Producer at KOI Media, where she continues to oversee commercial and branded content productions across a range of clients. She is valued for her calm problem-solving style, hands-on approach, and dedication to creating supportive sets where creative teams can thrive.
Kyle McConaghy
Lead Editor
Kyle McConaghy is a director, cinematographer, and editor from Missouri, a state not typically known for its cinematic roots. His latest film, Dead Mail, premiered at SXSW in 2024 and was sold to Shudder, where it is now available. His directorial debut, BAB—co-written and co-directed with Joe DeBoer—won Best Feature and Best Cinematography at the Nightmares Film Festival and is now available on major streaming platforms. His second feature, Sheeps Clothing, is set for release in March 2024.
In addition to his directing work, McConaghy has shot nine feature films, numerous short films, and even a handful of hotel training videos. He is passionate about telling inclusive stories with depth, strangeness, and grit, and he thrives on collaboration with other innovative filmmakers.
Adam Janota Bzowski
Music Composer
Adam Janota Bzowski is a London-based composer. As a child, he was known for his fondness for the intermittent static in between radio stations, an interest that would later see him study Sound Art at the University of Brighton. Whilst living in a disused biscuit factory on the English coast, Adam became involved in the ambient music scene, using an old 4-track tape recorder and guitar pedals to make compositions which still remain his preferred method today.
His career began as a sound designer for various media, including award-winning animations by Mikey Please and Parabella Studios, later leading to composing music for advertisements, installations, and short films. The BAFTA-nominated ‘Saint Maud’ marks his first feature-length score, which has already won him Best Original Music at the 2020 Gérardmer Fantasticarts Film Festival.
Humberto Corte
Sound Editor/Parlante Sound
Humberto Corte is an Emmy-nominated Sound Designer and Re-Recording Mixer based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is the owner and operator of Parlante Sound, an independent studio specializing in sound post-production for film, television, and emerging media. His credits span a wide range of acclaimed feature films, shorts, TV series, video games, and commercials.
Most recently, Humberto brought his expertise to the sound design and final mix of our short film SILK, a project rooted in psychological immersion and sonic world-building. His work has also been featured in major films such as Longlegs, The Monkey, and Heretic, all of which are celebrated for their atmospheric and unsettling soundscapes. With a reputation for crafting deeply textured and emotionally driven audio experiences, Humberto’s contributions are a vital part of the storytelling, especially on films where sound is not just supportive — but central to the tension, tone, and identity of the world on screen.
The Girl in the Street (2025)
The Girl in the Street was produced on a self-financed budget of $35,000, allowing us to scale the vision while maintaining the focus and efficiency of an independent set. The film brought together a larger crew than previous productions and enhanced technical resources, while maintaining the scrappy problem-solving spirit of our earlier work. It was selected by the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Fog Fest, Buried Alive Film Festival, and several others, earning multiple nominations and winning several awards.
The project also features a voiceover performance from horror icon Heather Langenkamp and a decorated post-production team whose credits include the Academy Award-winning Anora. Even with its modest scale, the film demonstrates how strong casting, sound design, and storytelling can create impact well beyond its budget.
The film was later picked up by the horror short platform ALTER and has earned more than 500,000 views across YouTube and Facebook in its first month, outperforming much of ALTER’s recent content.
SILK (2025)
SILK was produced on a true micro-budget with a small, scrappy crew, relying more on ingenuity than resources. With limited gear and a lean schedule, we pushed ourselves creatively to craft a film driven by mood, sound, and atmosphere rather than scale. The constraints became part of the artistic language by forcing us to experiment, collaborate tightly, and make every frame deliberate. What began as a modest production has already earned an official selection at the 2025 Chicago Horror Film Festival, along with nominations for Best Horror/Sci-Fi Short and a win for Best Chicago Director. SILK stands as proof that vision and commitment, not budget, are what bring a story to life.
BOUND (2023)
BOUND is a psychological horror short film about identity, loss, and the haunting weight of unrealized potential. After a career-ending condition forces her to abandon ballet, a former dancer finds herself unable to escape the life she once lived. As her younger sister rises in the world she left behind, she’s confronted by a presence that feels all too familiar—something that moves like her, thinks like her… and refuses to let go. As reality begins to fracture, she must decide whether to support the future in front of her—or remain bound to the version of herself she can’t release.
This independent horror short was shot with no crew in a raw, guerrilla-style production, developed through improvisation without a traditional script, capturing a natural, intimate performance grounded in real emotion.
Bringing
TO LIFE
A $1.5 million budget positions Analog in a strong space between elevated indie horror and commercially viable genre filmmaking. It is large enough to properly execute the film’s ambitious visual style, practical effects, atmospheric production design, sound work, and experienced cast, while remaining financially realistic in today’s independent horror market.
The budget allows the film to maintain the cinematic quality needed to compete with recent prestige horror releases while keeping the risk profile manageable, especially given the strong demand for contained, auteur-driven horror, including recent hits like Obsession. It also aligns well with Illinois tax incentives (a 30% rebate), helping maximize on-screen production value while reducing overall investor exposure.
At this level, Analog remains premium and marketable without crossing into a budget range that feels difficult to recoup for an original horror property from first-time feature filmmakers.
If you would like to support the financing and development of this film, reach out to us at swymgoodstudios@gmail.com.