Video: THE GIRL IN THE STREET Short Unveils Official Trailer

The horror short The Girl in the Street, directed by filmmaking duo Chris & Miles (Chris Paicely and Miles August), and written by Paicely, has embarked on its festival run. To mark the occasion, they have unveiled the film’s official trailer. 

The production stars Shawn Roundtree Jr. (Emperor of Ocean Park), Whitney Blair Masters, D'Andra Laneé,  and Chris Anthony, and features a vocal cameo by horror legend Heather Langenkamp (A Nightmare on Elm Street).

In the film, after receiving a once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity, Malachi (Roundtree Jr.) leaves his dying younger sister (Laneé) behind to move to a remote small town. Upon arrival, he has a strange encounter with the moving truck driver (Anthony) that causes him to question his morality.

As Malachi unpacks inside his new house, a bloody and scarred woman in a strange mask appears on the dirt road outside the house, screeching. Malachi faces a moral quandary: whether to help the woman or stay safely inside his home. The film asks whether being “good” is enough when survival is on the line, also tearing into the dark underbelly of suburban "goodness."

Featuring cinematographer Lana Mattice, the film is polished by teams from Fotokem (Disney, Strange Darling) and Esho Sound (Anora), and scored by Pablo Fuu (When Evil Lurks).

In 2022, Chris & Miles wrote and directed the award-winning sci-fi short ALUS, about a broken relationship and the power of artificial INTELLIGENCE in our day-to-day lives, and in 2023, they directed the psychological horror short BOUND, about a former dancer being pursued deeper and deeper into her home.

Chris Paicely is a lifelong storyteller whose journey spans from songwriting with friends in Indianapolis to journalism for outlets such as Patch, The Huffington Post, and Uproxx. After earning his Master of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University in 2010, he relocated to Illinois to cover education and politics in the Chicagoland area, subsequently transitioning into public relations and marketing. Over six years at the Surge Institute, Chris rose to the position of Vice President of Marketing, where he led major campaigns, directed video productions (including the documentary short Shades of Leadership, featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda), crafted brand narratives, and oversaw annual reports, website refreshes, and live-stream series, such as Shades of Impact.

In 2020, Paicely channeled his passion for visual storytelling into founding StoryPaced, a national, Black‑owned video production company that creates marketing, documentary, promo, event, and sizzle-reel content aimed at helping clients tell their most authentic stories. In 2022, he stepped deeper into filmmaking by co-founding Swym Good Films with Miles August, producing the award-winning sci-fi short ALUS, and collaborating with the creative team on narrative projects. Along the way, he’s co-hosted podcasts including Your Favorite Movie Is Racist and Survivor’s ED, and supports storytelling and cultural expression in the South Suburbs of Chicago as Board Vice Chair of alt_ Chicago.

Miles August is a filmmaker, visual artist, and composer based in the Chicago area. With over a decade of experience crafting music—initially for himself and fellow artists—he eventually shifted his creative focus to visual storytelling. While studying graphic design at the Illinois Institute of Art, he developed a passion for photography and videography. In 2023, August founded Notra Films, a video production company dedicated to producing short-form documentaries and storytelling-driven video content for a diverse range of clients..