Horror comedy thrives on friendship, survival, bad decisions and the ability to find humor amid complete chaos. The new film, ‘Dead Giveaway,’ chronicles how an ordinary hangover quickly becomes a hilarious nightmare filled with murder, mayhem and increasingly impossible obstacles. The movie blends outrageous humor with bloody horror, unexpected twists and the frantic energy of a friendship pushed to its limits.

Ian Kimble made his feature film writing and directorial debuts on ‘Dead Giveaway.’ The filmmaker also served as a producer on the project, alongside Suzann Toni and Andrew Vogel. The horror comedy feature is based on the 2015 short film of the same name.

The feature stars several female genre veterans. The cast is led by Ruby Modine (‘Silent Night, Deadly Night,’ ‘Happy Death Day’ series), Mikaela Hoover (‘Superman (2025),’ ‘The Belko Experiment’) and Scout Taylor-Compton (Rob Zombie’s ‘Halloween’ series,  ‘The Long Night’).

‘Dead Giveaway’ follows Jill (Modine) as she wakes up in a hangover haze next to a fully clothed – but extra bloody and dead – body. Her first move is to call not the police, but her fast-talking friend Lia (Hoover) for help. Even dismemberment is not off the menu as the two try to hatch a bulletproof plan to get rid of the body under the suspicious watch of Jill’s roommate Sarah (Suzann Toni Petrongolo).

As their drunken escapades from the night before slowly return to them, they have to investigate a whole group of suspects behind the dead John Doe. Not only do they want to distance themselves from the horrifying situation and place blame elsewhere, they’re still determine to make their brunch plans.

‘Dead Giveaway’ will have its World Premiere tomorrow, Friday, October 17 at 9:45pm ET at the Film Society Center during the 2025 Philadelphia Film Festival. The movie will then have its encore screening during the screening on Sunday, October 26 at 8:00pm ET at Film Society East.

In honor of ‘Dead Giveaway’s premiere during the Philadelphia Film Festival, Kimble generously took the time recently to talk about scribing, helming and producing the project. Among other things, the filmmaker discussed expanding the short into a feature-length horror comedy thriller and making his directorial debut. He also spoke about the collaborative casting and character-building process, shooting in South Jersey and Philadelphia, and premiering the project at the film festival.

Film Factual (FF): You wrote the script for the upcoming horror comedy thriller feature, ‘Dead Giveaway,’ which is based on your 2015 short of the same name. What inspired you to adapt the short into the feature? How did you approach penning the screenplay for the feature?

Ian Kimble (IK): When I first started writing the short, my goal was to tell a story in a closed area, mostly for budgetary reasons. I thought, how do I make the best short film that I can without using a lot of resources.

So I decided to shoot with a small cast on one location. I had so much fun making it that way. So I thought, how can I throw more things at these two girls while building their characters a little bit. I wanted to show a little bit more about what happened the night before.

The more I started throwing more stuff at them, the funnier it got. So that worked out great. I had a chalkboard filled with ideas about the terrible things I can do to make the story more interesting and funnier. That just kept working.

So that was a lot of fun. I had a really good time expanding the story and having these girls get into as much trouble as possible before they got to brunch.

FF: You made your feature film directorial debut on the new movie. How did you approach helming the feature after you previously directed the short?

IK: It was great. I was fortunate enough to have worked on other features in different roles.

But working on this one after working on the other ones, I just knew that the priority was working with talented, but mostly kind, people. It’s really important for me to work with good, kind people because you’re inseparable from a group of like 40 people for at least a month. So you want to have the best experience with these people as you can.

So the early parameter made everything else so much easier. It was wonderful to wok with such a cool group of creators and producers. Everybody just ad their own niche talent. But more importantly, it was just super fun having lunch with them every day.

FF: The feature version of ‘Dead Giveaway’ stars such genre veterans as Ruby Modine, Mikaela Hoover, Buddy Caine and Scout Taylor-Compton. What was the casting process like for the movie?

IK: It was a great process. Ruby became involved first, and she just understood it. She has a great rhythm because she’s a musician. So she quickly picked up on the cadence and pace of the project.

Mikaela came on later, and she’s brilliantly funny and funny. She’s also a huge horror fan, so she quickly understood the script. The two of them worked well together.

Ironically, I cast Buddy Caine next. He played Mark, who gets tied up in the chair. He previously worked on a project with Scout. I was still casting the role (of Vicky), and he told me I should call her.

So I reached out to Scout and she read the part. She got it. As soon as she showed on set, I thought, this is going to be great.

So casting them made my job a lot of fun. It was great working with such talented people.

FF: Once the actors were cast in the horror comedy, how did you work with them to build their characters and the overall storyline?

IK: It was very collaborative. Building the story with them was a majority in part with the rest of the creative departments.

Working with the actors and wardrobe, for example, was great – the wardrobe department put the costumes together with the actors. That develops the characters a little bit more. I also made playlists for the actors to listen to, which also helped develop their characters.

They also brought a lot of their own ideas and experiences to the table. They also talked to each other and read the dialogue together. That was such a fun building process. So their characters came to life in a cool way.

FF: The film features both horror elements and comedic relief. How did you work with the actors in specifically finding the right balance between the more frightening and humorous moments?

IK: It was a fun process. When you’re working with really talented actors and crew members, you have fun overall.

So we thought, how big can we make the horror elements? They were so absurd that we were all laughing about them, even though they were scary in the moment.

The comedy elements were played a little bit more serious. You try to be a little bit more serious and dramatic when it comes to comedic roles, which makes them funnier. You try to be super funny about the horrific parts and that makes it a little bit scarier…But it all worked out pretty great!

FF: In addition to scribing and directing ‘Dead Giveaway,’ you also served as a producer. How did you balance producing and helming the movie throughout the production?

IK: It’s a lot of fun if you like it. I’m a big fan of problem solving and producing, especially when you’re in the development stage and pre-production.

I’m very lucky to know a lot of talented crew members, a lot of talented people that work here. So, building the team was very easy.

I had a great production team working with me. Suzann Toni and Andrew Vogel, who both also act in the movie. They produced along with me, and they’re extraordinarily gifted.

So it was a big team effort. But it’s hard to get a movie off the ground, but once you finally get to it, it’s definitely worth it. We had a lot of fun.

FF: You shot ‘Dead Giveaway’ in the South New Jersey and the Philadelphia areas. How did you decide where to film the project? How did you work with the movie’s production designer, Shane Claire Strano, to create the look for the feature?

IK: I’m from South Jersey and I’ve been living in Philadelphia for about 15 years. So the characters and the vibe of the whole story very much resonate with this city.

Then when it came to shooting, it was just like, you know, we want to do it close to home. I’ve been lucky enough to work with a lot of really talented people from around here. There are a lot of talented people in this area because they’ve reached to New York, Philadelphia and Maryland. Anywhere that you’re going to shoot in this area, there are a lot of people to pull from. So I was really lucky to try to keep everything right in this area.

On top of that, the New Jersey film office has been wonderful and incredibly kind to us. The different towns we shot in were all really great to us.

Then the Philadelphia Film Festival, where we’re premiering tomorrow, are friends and we’ve all worked together. It’s a very close-knit community. So shooting and premiering here just feels right, as it feels like being home.

FF: Like you just mentioned, ‘Dead Giveaway’ will have its World Premiere at the Philadelphia Film Festival. What does it mean to you that the horror comedy will screen at the festival?

IK: The festival is great. It shows some of the best movies of the year every year. So to be included in this lineup is absolutely an honor.

It’s definitely not easy to get into this festival. But it’s one that we feel really special and good about being involved with. So we’re thrilled to be here, and the excitement around the premiere is pretty palpable.

Also, everybody seems to be pretty jazzed up about screening this tomorrow. And we’re going to be in the big theater downtown, the Philly Film Center. So, it’s going to be cool to finally get to see this movie on a big screen with big old sound and a whole big room full of people.