ШОЯКШО
Backyard HorrorComing soon UA

ШОЯКШОFilmhouse — a genre film company

Horror · Horror comedy ·
Dark comedy · New creators

About

We make genre films

A film company built around creators: screenwriters and directors. We find new voices and grow with them, from first short to feature. Talent-first.

ШОЯКШО (shoyaksho) is Ukrainian for “what if”. Horror, horror comedy, dark comedy: the most inventive commercial genres, where the creator has to be cre‑a‑tive. Our focus is the script: development, rewrites, mentoring, writing to budget. Script-first.

How we work

  1. Story. We look for a strong what-if premise.
  2. Script. We develop it with the writer: in our club, labs and contests.
  3. Film. We fund the production, marketing and distribution of the film.

  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 pitch sessions, contests, a screenwriters’ lab.

    Join the channel →

  2. 2026

    Contests and clubs

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

    Read more →

  3. October 2026

    ШОЯКШО Filmhouse

    A genre film company that grows with its talent.

Discord · invite-only

Horrormakersinvite-only Discord

Home to our horror makers: screenwriters from The Horror Contest with finished horror scripts, script notes, discussions and new crews. Invite-only: the way in is through our contests or a personal invitation.

  • Find a scriptaround 150 finished horror scripts from The Horror Contest
  • Find a crewDPs, actors, editors, directors, production designers: all here
  • Find your peoplereal talk about horror, craft and how films get made

170+horror makers already inside

Register for Backyard Horror and get access →
Hidden poster of the new SHOYAKSHO contest

Coming soon

31.10

FANCON ШОЯКШО Mykolaichuk OPEN

Backyard Horror 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

Your short is the first step
to a feature film

Shoot 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. Finalists get funding for a new version of their film and a premiere at the Mykolaichuk OPEN film festival. And with those who catch our eye, we talk bigger projects.

Prize pool$10,000

Judges (full list in the official rules)

What’s next

For SHOYAKSHO Filmhouse, a contest like this is a way to meet creators. For creators, it’s a way into genre. Contest aside, we watch every film with one question: would we take on something bigger with this director / screenwriter?

  1. $0Short filmShoot with what you have. The judges watch every entry.
  2. $2,000Now with a budgetPickups / reshoots / polish. Premiere at Mykolaichuk OPEN.

Backyard Horror

  1. Bigger testThe next projectWith those who stand out, we take on a bigger project.
  2. Feature filmA film togetherThe goal: big projects for international and Ukrainian audiences.

Beyond the contest

How it works

  1. 1Shoot a short5–10 minutes. A phone, a camera, Zoom, friends, lamps: get creative.
  2. 2The judges watch itFrom film, festivals and YouTube. They watch every entry.
  3. 3Win a budgetFinalists get funding to reshoot or extend their film.
  4. 4Promo booth and premiereA contest booth at FANCON and the finalists’ premiere at Mykolaichuk OPEN.

Timeline

  1. Registration opens
  2. Registration closesRegister early to join the invite-only Horrormakers community sooner.
  3. Submission deadlineSubmit your 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. Finalists’ films screen at Mykolaichuk OPEN.

Horror shorts 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 director breaks down how it was shot. Yes, it’s shot on film, but everything else is smart micro-budget filmmaking.

Subscribe to David Sandberg’s channel ponysmasher (Shazam!, Lights Out, Annabelle: Creation): plenty of tips on low-budget shooting.

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, writer-director of Obsession. Contained horror: one location, constant tension.

Watch on
Daniel Grindrod · 2:30 · shot on iPhone

The Bogeyman Comes at Night

The story is so-so, but it shows how cinematic a phone can look. The comments and description explain 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. No entry fee.

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-writer 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

Entrepreneur. 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 backed Anton’s belief 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 cameras
  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 release the film before the finalists are announced
Register → Official rulesrequired reading