Neon aquires YouTube film critic Chris Stuckmann’s upcoming debut ‘Shelby Oaks’

Neon secures worldwide rights to Chris Stuckmann's debut film Shelby Oaks, premiering at Fantasia Festival, with a star-studded cast.

Neon has secured the worldwide rights to Shelby Oaks, the debut feature film by filmmaker and popular YouTube film critic Chris Stuckmann. The acquisition comes on the heels of Neon’s recent success with Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs.

Shelby Oaks, a documentary-found footage crossover, is set to have its world premiere at the Fantasia Festival on Saturday. Neon will manage its theatrical release in the U.S. and oversee international sales.

The film stars Camille Sullivan (Hunter Hunter), Brendan Sexton III (Don’t Breathe 2), and Sarah Durn (Where the Crawdads Sing). The story centers on Mia (Sullivan) as she desperately searches for her sister Riley (Durn), who mysteriously vanished during the last recording of her investigative series, Paranormal Paranoids. The project gained significant attention and financial support through a 2022 Kickstarter campaign, which raised $1.4 million, making it the most-funded horror film on the platform.

Chris Stuckmann, widely recognized for his critiques of movies, video games, anime, and TV on YouTube, directed and wrote Shelby Oaks. He is also an accomplished author, with works like The Film Buff’s Bucket List: The 50 Movies of the 2000s to See Before You Die. The film was produced by Aaron B. Koontz, Ashleigh Snead, and Cameron Burns for Paper Street Pictures. Executive producers include Trevor Macy and Melinda Nishioka for Intrepid Pictures, along with horror veteran Mike Flanagan, Adam F. Goldberg, Paul Holbrook, Sean E. DeMott, and Tony Killough.

Neon’s vice president of acquisitions and production, Jason Wald, negotiated the deal with Paper Street Pictures’ CEO, Aaron B. Koontz, representing the filmmakers.

In addition to Shelby Oaks, Neon recently acquired North American rights to Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig, U.S. rights to Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey and Keeper, as well as North American rights to Julia Ducournau’s Alpha and The Unknown from Arthur Harari. The production company and distributor had also aquired the rights to Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or-winning Anora, marking their fifth consecutive Palme d’Or win at Cannes.