Shelby Oaks is a new horror film written and directed by first time feature filmmaker Chris Stuckmann. It tells the story of a woman determined to find her sister who goes missing while investigating a mysterious abandoned town.

It stars Camille Sullivan, Sarah Durn, Brendan Sexton III, and Keith David. It was executive produced by Mike Flanagan, who’s known for directing Stephen King adaptations and other horror films.

Before making the film, writer/director Chris Stuckmann was best known as a YouTube film critic. He utilized his platform and fanbase to crowdfund the production of Shelby Oaks. It combines elements of early YouTube, found footage, true crime documentaries, and narrative filmmaking to tell its story.

The film was produced by our guest, Ashleigh Snead. She has been making independent films for over a decade and is the director of production for Paper Street Pictures, a production company based out of Austin, Texas. She lives here in Anchorage and was kind enough to stop by our studio to speak with ATMI producer Cat Whited about working on Shelby Oaks.

In their conversation, Ashleigh talks about the movie’s journey from a simple pitch to getting theatrical distribution, her love of independent horror films, and other projects she has in the works. They spoke on November 12, 2025.

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Host: Deacon Laurance

Theme music is by Kendrick Whiteman with additional music from Devin Shreckengost.

Video and audio production by Kendrick Whiteman and Nathan Pobieglo. Edited by Kaylee LaTocha and Vermillion Reed.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit http://www.arts.gov

The views expressed in this program do not necessarily represent the views of our sponsors.

Alaska Teen Media Institute is based in Anchorage, Alaska. We would like to acknowledge the Dena’ina people, whose land we work on.