Recent UCLA graduate Tim Schechmeister has sold the rights to his short film, Viral, to Screen Gems, says a story at The Hollywood Reporter. The film has been enjoying a successful film festival run over the last year, however, it wasn’t until a known horror scribe saw it and passed it along to the right people.
Schechmeister met writer Stephen Susco (The Grudge) at screenwriting event this year and gave him a copy of Viral. An impressed Susco, in turn, passed it along to Roy Lee, producer of The Ring and The Grudge.
Lee and two other producers rallied behind the project and took it to Screen Gems where the feature rights were sold. Now, Schechmeister and his brother Matt are penning a feature adaptation for Tim to direct.
In the short film, two young ladies – Julia and Alexis – are supposed to be studying. But Alexis gives in to the temptation to go online and provoke someone… or something… that should have been left alone. Check out a trailer for the short below.
