Pacific Shadow Pictures have announced the premiere date for Welcome Back to My Channel, the feature film directorial debut from Jorrden Daley (Bump). Produced by Jill Kingston, the feature horror will have its world premiere at SXSW Sydney Screen Festival on 16 October at Palace Central. 

The film stars exciting, emerging Australian talent Meg Fraser, Bryn Chapman Parish and Keenan Walker and was shot entirely on location in NSW. Welcome Back to My Channel makes use of found footage and follows the story of an influencer and her boyfriend and a camping trip gone horribly awry.\

“This film started as a means to make a low-budget directorial debut after years of writing and producing,” says Daley who wrote and directed the film. 

“Influencer culture, particularly family vlogers, has long fascinated me. Their lives seem so artificial, yet they present them as reality. With this film, I wanted to unpack the psychological toll of living a double life and explore what happens when those facades are stripped away.”

Welcome Back to My Channel tells the story of influencer Suki, who brings her American boyfriend, Leo, home to Australia. On a camping trip, they’re disturbed first by Leo’s prankster friend, Cass, and then by the discovery of a lost little girl before being set upon by the girl’s knife-wielding cannibalistic family. What ensues, is horror at its finest drawing on influencer culture, found footage elements including police body cameras and security footage all set to the backdrop of the Australian wilderness, which has always proved to be the perfect backdrop to any horror setting. This is the curated online world ripped apart, literally limb by limb.

“In today’s world, pretence has become the norm,” says Daley. 

“We’re constantly pretending to be happier, braver, more successful. We’ve become so adept at this that we even convince ourselves. This film peels back those layers, forcing the characters, and the audience, to confront the unsettling truth that, beneath our civilised facades, we’re all just animals.”

The directorial debut for Jorrden comes after success as the writer and producer on the micro-budget family drama feature The Longest Weekend (Sydney Film Festival, BIFF, DIFF, Mardi Gras Film Festival). Ready to direct her first feature, Jorrden turned to horror, a genre she had always loved. She naturally leaned into the micro-budget feature format following on from her recent success and drew inspiration from The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity hoping to create an Aussie spiritual successor. 

Jorrden and producer Jill Kingston met in 2020 and soon discovered a shared love of horror which led to commencing work on the project in 2023.

“I really loved working with Jorrden on this film,” says Jill. 

“We are a great team – collaborating on every element of the production but also understanding each other’s strengths and roles. Jorrden took the lead on all things creative and I handled all the risk, business and logistical elements. To have the film premiere at SXSW Sydney is a dream come true for both of us after years of hard work and determination to bring the project to the screen.”

With extremely limited shoot days, the team knew they needed the best actors they could find who could not only deliver incredible performances but also act as guerrilla camera operators. The cast and crew spent three days on location in the Blue Mountains, with production filled with challenges including tricky council permits, hordes of tourists, losing light, stunt work, not to mention few comforts of any kind including trailers. The team hopes this could be the first film in a new franchise following the theme of Cannibals versus Influencers, the second of which will be called Welcome Back to My Channel.

Welcome Back to My Channel will screen at SXSW Sydney on October 16. Details here.