SKINNED
Alee Ruggieri
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LOGLINE
Horror Short Film
An intimate evening turns vengeful after a woman is stealthed by her romantic partner.
SYNOPSIS
An intimate evening, candlelight, romance. Everything is going well until Lucy realizes her partner removed the condom during sex. Suddenly thrust into an uncomfortable and possibly dangerous situation, she tries to play it cool. When her partner leaves for a drink of water, Lucy decides it is most certainly not cool. And she’s about to do something about it. When he returns, what’s waiting for him is a twisted taste of his own medicine.
Artistic Statement
As a female horror filmmaker, I have always made it my mission to explore the underrepresented perspectives in horror storytelling. The lack of horror stories told by female storytellers means that we are missing an entirely unique set of fears that fairly represent our experiences. Often, when we do see them, they are oversimplified and lacking nuance.
My goal in telling this story is to capture the complexity of the horror that comes from a “stealth” experience. There is, without question, the horror that comes from the act itself, but there are so often subsequent horrors that women, and even men, have to confront: women confronting their abuser, reckoning with the trauma of the experience within themselves, and even the abuser understanding what they’ve just done. Ben isn’t fully aware of the gravity of his actions, just as Lucy is not fully aware of how she feels about what has transpired. I want to honor that confusion instead of making a precise moral plea. What interests me is the grey area that we don’t often see when these situations are depicted on screen, and explore how the subsequent confusion can be terrifying in ways that transcend the terror of the act itself.
I hope to depict this story in an empowering and twisted way while adding something new to what would be a typical female revenge flick—those that too often make it seem easy for women to enact their revenge. Survival is a double-edged sword. It’s empowering to have survived, but that is not without the experience of physical and visceral transformation. That is the metaphor I hope to explore here. Lucy gets her “revenge,” but not without bearing the physical transformation that Ben’s actions have cost her. She is now an embodiment of the violence of the act.
PITCH DECK
TEAM
Alee Ruggieri. Director
Alee Ruggieri is a writer, director, and set decorator based in New York City. After graduating from NYU Tisch School of the Arts with a B.F.A in Film & Television and a minor in Cinema Studies, she has worked in set decoration on major television shows like American Horror Story: Delicate and production designed short form content. She has directed several short films, including Woe is Mary, which won the Audience Choice Award at Soho International Film Festival in 2022. Her short screenplay Dawn was a finalist in Screencraft’s Shorts Competition and an Official Selection at Hollyshorts. Her pilot Bloodletting was a quarterfinalist in Screencraft’s Horror Competition 2021. In 2024, she was a selected participant in the Stowe Story Labs June Narrative Lab where she was the NYX Horror Collective Fellowship Honorable Mention.
Letícia Bianco. Producer
Letícia Bianco is a Brazilian filmmaker and advocate for emerging artists, based in New York City. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Film & TV, she has supported award-winning filmmakers through roles at the Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Festival, and the British Film Institute, and honed her production expertise as Development & Production Coordinator at Scott Free Productions UK. With experience spanning short films to large-scale productions, Letícia is dedicated to fostering impactful storytelling and empowering the next generation of filmmakers.
Katie Paul. Producer
Katie Paul is a New York City-based producer with a BFA in Film and Television from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. She began her filmmaking career under the mentorship of Alexandra Dean at Reframed Pictures, contributing to the Netflix documentary Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story, where she developed a passion for crafting narratives about resilient, often misunderstood women. Her recent credits include Associate Producer on Hulu's Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge and YouTube Originals' This Is Paris, as well as Field Producer for Peacock's Casey Anthony: Where the Truth Lies.
Nima Niv. Director of Photography
Nima Niv is an Iranian filmmaker who graduated from UCLA with a BA in Film & Television. He directed the short films The Unseen Face and Mother’s Day, both official selections at the TIFFxInstagram Film Festival, as well as The Blind Owl Sinks, which screened at the Rotterdam International Film Festival. Additional credits include The Romantic Movement (Best Narrative Short, China Youth Film Week), Mythologies (Best Cinematography, First Take Film Festival), and Gorilla Mädchen (Best Film, Los Angeles 48 Hour Film Project).
Ike Oedel. Visual Effects Artist & Supervisor
Ike Oedel is a graphic designer and visual effects artist living in New York. With years of experience across many different types of film, he brings a blend of highly creative and technical skills. From such productions as A24, HBO, Disney and more, and post houses including Framestore, East Side Effects, and The Mill, Ike has provided a unique set of skills for every budget. Trained in character animation, his technical understanding of post workflows and editorial have let him produce and oversee everything from miniature fabrication, to extensive matte painting work, to complex on-set real-time assets for high profile, high quality productions.
Alyssa Franks. Production Designer
Alyssa Franks is a Brooklyn based Art Director, Set Decorator, and Production Designer. She currently works on a variety of short form and long form content within narrative and commercial spheres. She set decorated The Wrath of Becky (2023), which premiered at SXSW, as well as Tyler Cornick’s upcoming feature Mermaid which is also set to premiere at SXSW in 2025. She served as Art Director on indie feature films Silent Partner and Imposters, both currently in post production, and is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.
Taylor Currie. Editor
Taylor Currie is an editor and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She graduated with a BFA in Film Production from Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. Taylor has edited narrative and documentary films as well as branded content. Taylor’s films have screened at numerous festivals, such as Toronto International Film Festival and International Film Festival Rotterdam.
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