How a Spider Phobia Became a Horror Comedy Short
The Logline: When a callous jerk breaks a young woman's heart, she turns to her resident bathroom spider for advice - with horrifying results.
The Synopsis: A cartoonishly bad boyfriend dumps his girlfriend, leaving her in tears and a mascara-soaked mess. But when she spots the spider watching from the corner of the bathroom, the two share a moment, and the spider gives her an idea of how to move on.
I had previously collaborated with writer CJ Hoke on a play for the Hollywood Fringe, where I was an actor and she was the playwright. I loved her way with dialogue and her unique perspective on the world. She can take something mundane (in this case, a breakup) and turn it into something completely original (a spider inspiring revenge!). When I told her I was looking for more opportunities to direct, specifically something contained and achievable on a microbudget, she said she might have the right project for us. Months later, we had assembled a team of kickass collaborators, and a one-day shoot with a minimal cast that felt very doable. The real challenge was casting the Spider.
I love doing things practically, so I toyed with using a real spider. A friend from vet school who works as an animal wrangler walked me through what that would involve. Since a modest house spider can’t be trained, we’d basically be releasing it onto the set and hoping it did what we needed. As much as I wanted a practical spider, I couldn’t unleash one (or several!) in our shooting location, which also happened to be CJ’s own apartment. So we went with CG, which was also a relief because it gave us far more control.
On the shoot day, our production designer Natasha Parbhu brought a bunch of small fake spiders for wide shots and actor eyelines. We ended up not using them because they just didn’t quite look real, but instead relied on spider web that we'd add the spider onto in post. I later learned that a few prop spiders got left behind in CJ’s apartment and gave her quite a scare while she was cleaning up after the shoot!
For post, I recruited my friend James Dunovan to bring the spider to life. The hardest part of this stage was combing through dozens (or was it hundreds??) of extreme close-up spider photos to design ours. Once we settled on a species and a few references, James built and animated it.
I can’t say I’ve conquered my fear of spiders, but I’ve learned I like the humble American house spider a lot more than the furry ones with eight eyes.
About Christine Weatherup
Christine Weatherup is an actor, writer, director, and producer focused on character-driven stories that explore human connection. A USC graduate trained at the British American Drama Academy, she has appeared in Watchmen, Westworld, Grey’s Anatomy, and Mad Men, as well as leading independent films. Her feature debut See You Next Christmas received the Humor and Humanity Award at the Heartland Film Festival and is streaming on Peacock. Bathroom Spider, her first foray into horror comedy, is a darkly funny short film she directed despite being, in real life, terrified of spiders. She is currently developing new feature projects.
Website: ChristineWeatherup.com
Instagram: @christineweatherup
IMDb: Christine Weatherup
IMDb: CJ Hoke
