ШОЯКШО
Kino na koliniComing soon UA

ШОЯКШОFilmhouse — a genre film company

A great story begins with what if

Horror · Horror-comedy ·
Black comedy · New creators

About

We make genre films

Horror, horror comedy, dark comedy: the most inventive commercial genres, where the creator has to get creative.

ШОЯКШО (shoyaksho) is Ukrainian for “what if”. A great story doesn’t always call for a big budget, but the script and the budget should meet early, while the story is still being written. So before anything goes into production, we validate the script: we test it, gather feedback and make sure the story works on paper first. Script-first.

How we work

  1. Story. We look for a strong what-if engine.
  2. Script. Together with the writer we get it into shape: in the club, in labs and in contests.
  3. Film. We fund the production and marketing of the film for audiences in Ukraine and abroad.

  1. March 2025

    ШОЯКШО
    Telegram channel

    This is where it all began. After years in film and TV, Anton Skrypets started the channel to find and develop screenwriters. Local pitching sessions, contests, a screenwriting lab.

    Join the channel →

  2. 2026

    Contests and clubs

    A closed screenwriters’ club, The Horror Contest and the Horrormakers Discord community.

    Read more →

  3. October 2026

    ШОЯКШО Filmhouse

    A genre film company.

Discord · closed community

Horrormakersclosed Discord community

Home to our horror makers: screenwriters from The Horror Contest with finished horror scripts, script breakdowns, discussions and new crews. There’s no way in off the street: only through our contests or by personal selection.

  • Find a scriptaround 150 finished horror scripts from The Horror Contest
  • Find a crewcinematographers, actors, editors, directors, production designers: they’re all here
  • Be among your ownlive talk about horror, creativity and how films get made

170+horror makers already inside

Register for Kino na kolini and get access →
Hidden poster of the new SHOYAKSHO contest

Coming soon

31.10

FANCON ШОЯКШО Mykolaichuk OPEN

KINO NA KOLINI contest poster: a dark bathroom, a silhouette behind the glass shower door. Registration 31 October – 15 December. Horror, horror comedy, dark comedy. $10,000 prize pool. Shoot with no budget, win a budget and a film festival premiere. FANCON, SHOYAKSHO, Mykolaichuk OPEN.

Short film contest

Shoot with no budget.
Win a budget and a festival premiere

Make a 5–10 minute short with whatever you have: a phone, a camera, Zoom, friends, lamps, your flat. But no budget doesn’t mean sloppy. The finalists get money for a new version of their film, and the premiere takes place at the Mykolaichuk OPEN film festival.

Prize pool$10,000

Judges (full list in the official rules)

How it works

  1. 1Shoot a short film5–10 minutes. A phone, a camera, Zoom, friends, lamps: get creative.
  2. 2The judges watch itFrom the film industry, festivals and YouTube. They watch every entry.
  3. 3Win money to shootThe finalists get money to reshoot their film or to extend it into a longer version.
  4. 4Promo booth and premiereA contest booth at FANCON and the finalists’ premiere at Mykolaichuk OPEN.

Timeline

  1. Registration opens
  2. Registration closesRegister early: you’ll get into the closed horror-makers community sooner.
  3. Film deadlineSubmit the finished 5–10 minute film by 23:59.
  4. ResultsThe judges watch every entry and pick 5 finalists.
  5. The contest’s own booth at the pop-culture festival in Kyiv.
  6. The finalists’ films will be screened at Mykolaichuk OPEN.

Short horrors for inspiration

David F. Sandberg · 2:09 · Super 8

Call of the Ocean

Brilliantly simple. Shot on three rolls of Super 8 during a trip to Sweden, mostly in one take. Looks like something you could shoot in a couple of hours.

Watch on
Making of · 19:27

Call of the Ocean

The creator shares how this film was shot. Yes, the camera shoots on film, but everything else is smart micro-budget filmmaking.

We recommend subscribing to David Sandberg’s channel ponysmasher (Shazam!, Lights Out, Annabelle: Creation), where he shares plenty of tips on shooting on a tight budget.

Watch on
ACMofficial · 3:09 · screenlife-ish

Omegle

A good screenlife-style example: a couple of friends who can act is enough. And a great concept that could grow into something bigger.

Watch on
Curry Barker · 4:58 · single location

Mama Bear

A new short from Curry Barker, the creator of Obsession. A chamber piece: one space and constant tension.

Watch on
Daniel Grindrod · 2:30 · on iPhone

The Bogeyman Comes at Night

The story is so-so, but it’s a great example of how cinematic an image you can get from a phone. And the comments and description tell you how it’s done.

Watch on

Registration open until 15 Dec

Take the first step

Registration takes a few minutes; you don’t need a film yet. Entry is free.

Register → Official rulesrequired reading

All contest updates — on the official pages

Founders

A modern startup-tech mindset meets big-business experience.

Anton Skrypets

Anton
Skrypets

Co-founder · CEO

Startup-tech mindset

Screenwriter, TV director, creator of web series. Producer and co-creator of Stay Online (FANTASIA 2023 winner). Founder of the tech startup BuddyWrite, a screenwriting app. Built the SHOYAKSHO community of creators that grew into a film company.

Ivan Nikolaichuk

Ivan
Nikolaichuk

Co-founder · partner

Big-business experience

Businessman. Owner of the NIKO group of companies. Trained as a film director in his youth, but found his calling in big business. Film never let go of him, so in 2022 Ivan made his own feature, The Eternity Man. And in 2026 he believed Anton that Ukrainian genre film can work as a business.

Rules of the game

  1. A 5–10 minute film
  2. Horror, horror comedy or dark comedy
  3. In Ukrainian with English subtitles, or in English
  4. Live action: real actors, real shooting
  5. VFX and AI graphics are allowed
  6. Fully AI-generated footage: no more than 30% of the film
  7. Script: your own or from the Discord community
  8. Shoot with what you have: a phone, a camera, Zoom, friends, lamps, makeup
  9. Shoot behind the scenes: 10+ photos and 5+ videos
  10. Don’t publish the film before the finalists are announced
Register → Official rulesrequired reading