Clifton Park

Clifton Park

This is only pretend.

2025 · 18 min · Horror, Thriller

Mari loves The Ambassadors. The aspiring actress, and college undergrad, has seen every single one of their experimental theater productions in NYC, and now she has been chosen to travel to upstate New York with the famed theater troupe to work on their new play about a real-life sex cult. When the group announces that they will be building this new show by staying in character all weekend, Mari salivates at the opportunity to show off her commitment to her craft. But when the line between reality and fiction becomes blurred in a deadly way, Mari must choose between giving over to the dangerously unconventional methods of The Ambassadors or escaping with her own life. CLIFTON PARK is a short psychological horror that highlights the parallels between coercive communities and auteur directors while exploring the lengths that one will go to for their art.

Directed by Maren Lavelle · Written by Maren Lavelle

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Clifton Park

Black Phone 2

A close match in mood and era.

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Maya

A short film about a Queer NYC stage manager reflecting on her break-up while trying to manage the rehearsal of a play about a gay couple falling in love.

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Wendy can see the exact way she wants things to go in her head, but when she opens her mouth everything seems to fall apart. So, when she develops a secret crush on Cassie, the lead actress in her middle school production of Romeo and Juliet, the stakes are higher than ever. Can she summon up the courage to let Cassie know how she really feels? Or is the risk of humiliation just too high?

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