I’m over the moon, still wheezing snotting screaming, to report that CHOKE had a tremendous world premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre to a SOLD OUT audience at HollyShorts’ Midnight Madness block! 

We screened alongside a stellar slate of films - everything from Italian Giallo murder mysteries (The Seeing Eye Dog Who Saw Too Much), to satanic goth dramedy (I Want to Hook Up With Dylan But My Social Score Is Negative Ten Trillion), to cock-blocking ghosts (Beware C*ckblocking Ghosts). 

CHOKE closed out the block alongside a creepy-crawly-cellphone-horror, The End Is at Hand,  starring the one and only Efren Ramírez (Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite) and was preceded by a terrifying toy story EP’d by Jordan Peele, Morty. Shout out to your terrifying fluffy ass, Morty. 

I think upon reflection, Midnight Madness is exactly where CHOKE belongs, and I feel both seen and honored to be part of this storied block. 

All week I’d been advertising it as “the adult swim” block, or the “cool weirdos.” Smoke a joint and come watch us at midnight really resonated. 

But what I loved so much about this block was the use of genre to explore deep themes. One of my favorites, YAOGUAI, was almost inexplicable. An incredible monster, an exploration of surviving (or not) racism, and a truly sick ending. 

And it makes me so proud that CHOKE stands in this company. 

Our film uses multiple genres to the fullest - camp, comedy, horror, girly-pop Barbie vibes. And we’re exploring some intense questions: 

• What would a world look like where your speech could be quite literally ripped from your throat? 

• What are the implications of being a bystander while your neighbors are plucked off the street? 

The premiere was made all the more special by our Chicago cast and crew showing up in FULL FORCE BABY. We were joined by our incredible production designer, Rosie Ybarra, and our wonderful actors, Carlo Aparo who plays the deeply empathetic Joe from Accounting, and Nick McDowell, the dastardly Cop 2. 

The lights went down. CHOKE hit the screen. And the reception was beyond anything we could have imagined. We laughed. We screamed. We held our breath and CHOKED. 

And most importantly, we got to experience this weird, colorful, deeply chaotic movie together. 

A film built in Chicago, hitting a Hollywood audience, with the joy and satisfaction of sitting beside the people who made it and an incredible audience who showed up for it.

From Chicago to Hollywood, CHOKE has officially hit the world. 

Huge love to HollyShorts for creating a program where our wacky-ass film has a celebrated slot. To our phenomenal cast and crew, and everyone who filled that theater and made our midnight premiere one we'll never forget.

Can’t FRIKKIN wait for what’s next.