ANTi-SOCiAL · Lookbook

Laurels

The Screenplay

Early draft placed as a Semi-Finalist in the top 3% (top 40) from 1400 short film screenplays worldwide.

“ The atmosphere of this short is created through beautifully descriptive writing, which manages to place the reader within the haunted world of the protagonist… deliciously unsettling amusement.”

- Screencraft, competition (Semi-Finalist)

“ANTI-SOCIAL is a dark look at the dangers of social media, the allure of fame, and the power of guilt, told through the lens of magical realism. This is a wild ride with a clear point of view. Nice job!”

- Slamdance, competition (early coverage, awaiting placement)

“…Anti-social might not be classified in a mainstream genre, as it’s complex and grounded in realism… Kyle Cassie showcases their craftsmanship and a genuine narrative voice that gives us all the reasons to be excited about the script being conveyed to the screen.”

- The Golden Script, competition (early coverage, awaiting placement)

Synopsis

Theme

ANTI-SOCIAL is a darkly comedic look at the dangers of social media, the allure of fame, and the power of guilt, told through the lens of magical realism.

Anti-Social is a darkly comedic, dramatic tale that unveils questions about the cost of stardom in our current climate of feverish social media driven quests for acceptance and more importantly, the collateral damage pertaining to mental health. Ambition, greed, self loathing, atonement and a little fantasy all make up the fabric of this tormented tale as we sneak a voyeuristic peek into our protagonist's insular world over the course of two life altering days.

The short sealed her in a room with the monster she built to survive being watched. The feature follows her out, into a world that runs on the same hunger, and asks whether you can ever really leave your friend monster behind.

The Feature

Friend Monster

Psychological drama · Dark fairy tale · Magical realism

ANTi-SOCiAL put a fallen entertainer alone in an apartment with Maurice, the sasquatch her mind built for company, and watched loneliness split her in two. Friend Monster is the thing the short was always circling. What a life spent being watched does to a person, and what it grows in the dark once the applause stops.

It is a film about the cost of being seen. The way a crowd can adore you and injure you in the same motion. The way isolation manufactures a companion, and the way that companion learns to feed. Maurice was never the threat. Maurice was the symptom.

And it is a film about right now, a world where everyone performs, everyone is a little bit famous, and almost everyone is quietly building a Maurice of their own. It reaches the fragile first. It reaches the children who are already on stage before they are old enough to say no.

The short asked the question. The feature won't let it go.

Cast

Characters

Juniper Juice

Emilie Ullerup

Our beloved protagonist, Juniper Juice, is a 30s something former social media sensation and children’s celebrity entertainer who after a tragic accident involving a young fan, is now trapped in her apartment both literally and figuratively away from the oppressive world leaning in on her from outside.

Emilie Ullerup brings an emotionally charged and intricately layered interpretation to this hopeful character teetering on the brink of collapse.

Will

Devin Looc

Will is the tender-hearted, crippled boy living in the other neighboring apartment next to Juniper’s. He forms a secret bond with Juniper’s inner demon.

Will was a mega-fan of Juniper Juice, one of the world’s biggest children’s celebrity YouTube performers until he was hurt in a careless accident during one of her concerts. Now confined to a wheelchair, he lives in a run down apartment building with his struggling single mother Wilma.

Will is a thoughtful, quiet boy with a huge heart that still holds love and admiration for his hero Juniper. He longs for connection and eventually finds it with Maurice, a strange but goofy Sasquatch who roams his apartment building hallways when no one’s looking.

The framed photo of Juniper and her dad beside the clocks in her living room, still from the film

Juniper’s Dad

Treat Williams

Juniper’s manipulative, self serving, emotionally abusive Father and conservator to her celebrity fortune.

Wilma

The single mother · Miranda Frigon

Wilma is a single mom living next door to Juniper. She struggles with raising her crippled boy, Will and is perpetually one wrong move away from a breakdown.

Julian Healer

The therapist · Malachi Weir

Julian is a sage life guide and group counsellor with the wisdom of a thousand year old Oak.

Maurice

Maurice is what makes it magical realism instead of horror. He is funny. He is enormous. He is the best friend she has and the worst thing in the room, and the movie loves him and fears him at once.

World and Tone

Visual Style

Kindred frames

Overhead bathroom shot, still from ANTi-SOCiAL — ANTi-SOCiAL

Will at the end of the hallway, still from ANTi-SOCiAL — ANTi-SOCiAL

Juniper on the floor, still from ANTi-SOCiAL — ANTi-SOCiAL

Mood, in the film’s own colour

Juniper at the peephole, warm light, still from ANTi-SOCiAL

Juniper’s bedroom in teal night light, still from ANTi-SOCiAL

The hole in the damask wallpaper, still from ANTi-SOCiAL

Juniper on the sofa in afternoon light, still from ANTi-SOCiAL

Juniper against the floral wallpaper, still from ANTi-SOCiAL

Juniper's bedroom, still from ANTi-SOCiAL — Bedroom

Juniper peeking out of the building's side entrance with her groceries — Building side entrance

Juniper's groceries spilled on the ground outside the building — Outside the building

Will in his wheelchair at the end of the building hallway — Building hallway

Juniper at the window, looking out through the blinds — At the window

The neighboring apartment, still from ANTi-SOCiAL — Neighboring apartment

Locations

The apartment BLDG

A rundown tenement style apartment

JUNIPER’S Apartment:

Bedroom
Apartment Entryway
Kitchen
Bathroom
Livingroom (with window)

WILMA’s Apartment

Livingroom
hallway to livingroom

LYRIC’s Apartment:

Small portion of bedroom seen briefly in peephole

Building Hallway (outside Juniper’s apartment and two adjacent neighbor’s doors)
Building Main Entrance (interior with glass front ideally)
Street outside Building Main doors

Director

Kyle Cassie

Director/writer/Executive Producer

Kyle Cassie is a writer-director based in Los Angeles, drawn to tragic human stories: underdogs and anti-heroes, impossible situations, the darker side of fairy tales, always with a playful, slightly tormented lens.

His debut short ANTi-SOCiAL, a tragicomic thriller he wrote, directed, produced, edited, and colored, world-premiered at Indie Short Fest Los Angeles. The film earned a long list of nominations and wins, including Best Director, Best Fantasy Film, Best Actress, Best Young Actor, and Best Cinematography. The screenplay placed in the top eight worldwide at the Slamdance Screenplay Competition and was a semifinalist in two other prominent screenplay competitions. His 2024 music video 17, shot in Copenhagen, takes a female-led perspective on the quiet violence of relationship abuse, and the strength one woman finds in rebuilding herself afterwards. Currently in post-production: B M X, an unconventional love story about hopeless hearts in Copenhagen, releasing in 2026; and Hashtag, a vertical-format elevated horror told through the language of TikTok feeds.

Cassie spent two decades as a working film and television actor, including a supporting role in Marvel's Deadpool, before moving behind the camera in 2012. He has directed and produced 90+ productions, including commercial work for a New York-based global beauty brand's in-house studio, shooting in Los Angeles, New York, London, and Berlin.

Two feature films are in active development through his production company Mr Hyde Films: Riot Tempo, a contained psychological thriller about four estranged bandmates pulled to their late frontman's wake and trapped at his mansion for a week as ten years of quietly rewritten histories begin to come apart; and You Only Live Twice, a psychological thriller drawn from his own experience, having briefly died before spending weeks in a coma at nineteen.

Cast and crew

The Team

Emilie Ullerup

Juniper Juice · Executive Producer

Emilie Ullerup is a Danish born actor based in Los Angeles who has been working in Film/Tv continuously since she moved to North America in 2006. Her passion for the craft and unfettered commitment to her roles has allowed her to enjoy versatility in her work bouncing between the genres of drama, horror, action and comedy.

She has worked as a series regular show after show since she started acting and has also starred in many feature films in between, including the Netflix feature film, “True Memoirs of an International Assassin” opposite Kevin James and “Life on the Line” opposite John Travolta and Kate Bosworth. Emilie has been nominated for several awards and won for her portrayal as lead character Kaitlin Boyd in the acclaimed novel-turned TV series, ‘Jpod”

She is about to begin shooting her 6th season of Hallmark Channel’s acclaimed family drama, “Chesapeake Shores” while concurrently shooting season 3 of Disney/Freeform’s dark sci-fi “Motherland-Fort Salem”. She also just starred in Netflix’s hit crime thriller “Brazen” which ranked as #1 in over 40 countries upon release in early 2022.

Written and directed byKyle Cassie

ProducersEmilie Ullerup · Kyle Cassie · Joshua Finn

Executive producersEmilie Ullerup · Kyle Cassie

CinematographerChris Van Valey

Production designerIsabel Aranguren Messuti

ComposerDevin Johnson

Editor and coloristKyle Cassie

StarringEmilie Ullerup · Devin Looc · Miranda Frigon · Malachi Weir · Treat Williams

Indie Short Fest

Theme

Friend Monster

Characters

Juniper Juice

Will

Visual Style

Locations

Stills

On set

Kyle Cassie

The Team

Emilie Ullerup

In the company of

Kyle Cassie