Rian Johnson's Short Film 'Evil Golf Ball From Hell!!!' Will Be Online This Weekend
Long before he directed the best movie in the Star Wars saga, Rian Johnson was a student at Star Wars creator George Lucas's old stomping grounds: the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.
In the mid-90s, Johnson made a short film called Evil Golf Ball From Hell!!!, and starting this Friday, that movie is coming to Gunpowder & Sky's science fiction label DUST for a limited time. Learn more about the short and how you can see it below.
In partnership with USC's Student Film Week, Evil Golf Ball From Hell!!! will be heading to DUST's channels this week and will be available to view from Friday, December 7, 2018 to Sunday, December 10, 2018. Here's the official description of the short:
Evil Demon Golf Ball From Hell!!! is part comedy, part thriller following a man who is haunted by an unusual type of fiend after a bad deed is done. For more than 22 years, Johnson's short has been taught at the USC School of Cinematic Arts as an example of how to make an incredible short film on a shoestring budget and continues to receive acclaim for its deft camera movements.
DUST is the sci-fi label of the relatively new distributor Gunpowder & Sky, the distributor of indie movies like Hearts Beat Loud and The Little Hours. DUST recently acquired the well-reviewed sci-fi feature Prospect, and they've previously been the home for early short films from big filmmakers like George Lucas (Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB) and Robert Zemeckis (The Lift). Here's their YouTube channel.
"Sharing Rian Johnson's short film with sci-fi lovers worldwide and showcasing it during the USC Student Film Week encapsulates everything we strive for with DUST – honoring the works of sci-fi masters such as Lucas while also celebrating the passing of the torch to the next wave of future filmmaking icons like Johnson," Eric Bromberg, DUST's General Manager, said in a statement. "We are excited to, once again, work with USC to bring attention to some of their up-and-coming filmmakers while paying homage to the sci-fi legends of both yesterday and today."
While you wait for Evil Demon Golf Ball From Hell!!! to drop, you can check out one of Johnson's other pre-Brick short films called The Psychology of Dream Analysis right now. Johnson says he and his longtime cinematographer Steve Yedlin shot it around 2003, which is just two years before Brick broke out at Sundance and put Johnson on the map: