AUSTIN, Texas — Filmmaker Michael Zumaya will bring his debut short film, Transference, to Austin’s Fantastic Fest this week, where the psychological horror film will make its world premiere Friday.
The film will screen as part of the festival’s Short Fuse program at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, giving the Austin filmmaker a chance to debut his work at one of the city’s best-known genre film festivals.
Fantastic Fest, which Tim League founded in 2005, showcases horror, science fiction, fantasy, action and other films that push genre boundaries.
For Zumaya, the festival represents the kind of audience he had in mind when he made Transference.
“There is an audience of freaks out there that this is for,” Zumaya said.
The film follows a hypnotherapy session that takes a surreal turn as the memories of a therapist, played by Valentina Ellis, and her patient, played by Alexandria Payne, begin to blur. Ominous sound and camcorder footage add to the film’s unsettling atmosphere.
Festival programmers describe Transference as “a ghost transmission from the outer limits of Hell.”
A personal project
Zumaya, a San Diego native, began his film career in Southern California before moving to Austin during the COVID-19 pandemic as work in the industry shifted.
He built a portfolio directing commercials and music videos, including projects with Deftones and Danny Elfman. Narrative filmmaking, however, remained his long-term goal.
His childhood friend, writer Matt Knutson, eventually approached him about collaborating on a project. Knutson and co-writer Ross Nervig helped develop the story that became Transference.
Zumaya drew from several personal interests for the film, including psychology, visual storytelling, music and the horror films that frightened him as a child.
“I grew up an incredibly paranoid kid. Static on a TV—scary, like straight up,” Zumaya said. “I remember watching Poltergeist when I was 6. It freaked me the f— out.”
Coil’s “Are You Shivering?” closes the film.
Austin’s indie filmmaking community
Zumaya launched a crowdfunding campaign with an $11,000 goal and reached that amount within a day. The campaign eventually raised just under $14,000. The project also received a $5,000 Nexus Grant from the City of Austin.
“Your community will show up for you,” Zumaya said. “Your people will show up for you.”
Among those people was Jenni Kaye, co-founder of Hyperreal Film Club, who joined Transference as a first-time producer.
Zumaya connected with Kaye and the Austin film community after moving to the city. In 2022, Hyperreal programmed his music video for Mareux’s “Perfect Girl” ahead of a screening of Jennifer’s Body at Hotel Vegas.
Zumaya remembers the event as an early sign that he could find a creative community in Austin.
Kaye said producing Transference gave her a firsthand look at the practical challenges of independent filmmaking. The crew had to decide which elements the production needed and which ones it could sacrifice, including some shots and locations.
The experience also reinforced her view of Austin’s collaborative film community.
“You always know here, if you’re gonna help somebody out, that that’s going to come back to you, as well,” Kaye said.
A festival debut close to home
Zumaya structured the production schedule around a potential Fantastic Fest premiere because he believed the festival’s audience would connect with the film.
The premiere will also carry a personal significance. Zumaya regularly visits the South Lamar Alamo Drafthouse, where he will watch his own film on Friday.
“It’s so crazy that I’m gonna get to sit in a theater that I go to twice a week and see my s— on the screen,” he said.
The filmmaker hopes the festival exposure will lead to opportunities to direct a feature film. He describes himself as a pool of gasoline waiting for a match.
Kaye said film festivals have become more challenging for independent filmmakers as more projects arrive with distribution agreements already in place. That can make it harder for films without established backing to reach distributors and investors.
She sees Fantastic Fest as a possible exception because of its highly specific audience.
“You know that your audience is built on the people that you actually made the movie for. That’s who gets to see your movie,” Kaye said.
For Zumaya, that audience is exactly what he hopes to find.
“Maybe there’s a little freak in you, too,” he said.