one night in squatchtown
picture’s up productions presents…
Director’s Statement
“One Night in Squatchtown” was a massive creative leap for me. I had never made a film with such a substantial runtime, let alone its ensemble cast, numerous locations (many of them outdoors and/or at night), and technical hurdles.
However, my heart was set on making a 30-minute 2000s-style teen comedy about Bigfoot. So I did.
I consider “Squatchtown” a collaboration with my friend Reece Moseley; from the outset, we agreed that we would write and act in the film together, he would compose the score, and I would direct. While my name comes after “directed by,” this is our film, and I’m proud of what we pulled off.
![The cast of "One Night in Squatchtown" sits around a campfire.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/66e21cd64e1d49407b9f3ed8/1726809487234-YBV2I8CZ1ASR4KUVZQPV/squatchstill11.jpg)
![John Hoffman, Wake Davidson, Reece Moseley, and Michael Light in "One Night in Squatchtown."](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/66e21cd64e1d49407b9f3ed8/1726809553685-CQ2E2V56HLNVIHI53105/squatchstill20.jpg)
![Reece Moseley in "One Night in Squatchtown."](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/66e21cd64e1d49407b9f3ed8/1726809585816-7B563YNISNR2613MUJSU/squatchstill13.jpg)
![Michael Light and Reece Moseley in "One Night in Squatchtown."](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/66e21cd64e1d49407b9f3ed8/1726809614176-NAGI6TJIYTUO8UVHEYQP/squatchstill22.jpg)
!["Squatch Crossing" sign in "One Night in Squatchtown."](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/66e21cd64e1d49407b9f3ed8/1726809635560-8IYWB1YPF9S2LAYEJLHQ/squatchstill23.jpg)
![John Hoffman and Wake Davidson in "One Night in Squatchtown."](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/66e21cd64e1d49407b9f3ed8/1726809653631-IVEGT5C83F4GSVSD3YTP/squatchstill8.jpg)
Key Crew
Key Cast
trivia
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Director Sam Morgan (via the film's behind-the-scenes video): "I had to put on the suit myself. Literally any scene in the movie in which you see Reece's character get hurt, or injured, or do any sort of stunt... that's me in the Bigfoot suit."
There are even shots in the film in which he doubled for Reece without wearing the Bigfoot suit; one wide shot (the campfire scene) had to be composited in post-production so that Sam was cloned, sitting in for himself as well as for the back of Reece's head. A considerable amount of styling putty was used to make Sam's hair resemble Reece's.
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The "rain machine" was a rig consisting of two PVC tripods with a long metal bar between them. A hose with small holes poked in it was affixed to the metal bar with zip ties. The high-pressure water within the hose would exit through the small holes with force, shooting "rain" towards the sky for it to fall back down.
Given the hundreds of feet of hose required to run water out to the set, scenes involving the rain machine were plagued with technical difficulties. Actress Anajulia Canavan-Lima described in the behind-the-scenes video her "love-hate" relationship with the rain machine: "I have beef with it a little bit... we tried, like, fifteen times to get that thing to work... and it wouldn't work."
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A crowd-favorite moment in the film is the argument between Jackson and Josh (resulting in Jackson's screaming outburst) after the car breaks down. The near-unintelligible screaming was completely improvised by Reece Moseley.
Transparent Film Festival
"Sam Morgan and Reece Moseley are a team to watch… Two young talents who combine to put together an entertaining film. Slick editing, great soundtrack and overall engaging performances.”
Southern Shorts Awards (Judge 1)
“better produced than many non-student films we get.”
Southern Shorts Awards (Judge 2)
“An extraordinary student short... Light and Moseley were completely believable as growing up best friends... Dialogue was cleverly written and flowed naturally. The 'bromance' was portrayed with sensitivity. Overall one of the highest scoring student films I have judged.”
Southern Shorts Awards (Judge 3)
“the ‘tasting shit’ scene could have been omitted. it was just gross and over the top. We didn't need to see it on his lips.”
![squatch aahsff laurels white.png](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/66e21cd64e1d49407b9f3ed8/3e0eafb0-7051-4875-b0ff-bb79edd8757f/squatch+aahsff+laurels+white.png)
![squatch atlhsff laurels white.png](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/66e21cd64e1d49407b9f3ed8/59e8aef6-9126-43fc-86ba-29cc24a30b94/squatch+atlhsff+laurels+white.png)
![squatch cobb laurels white.png](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/66e21cd64e1d49407b9f3ed8/b28de8a6-d68d-48fa-a762-1a3878d5c583/squatch+cobb+laurels+white.png)
![squatch gff laurels white.png](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/66e21cd64e1d49407b9f3ed8/9b829503-1c40-4108-975b-9ff8c1c53787/squatch+gff+laurels+white.png)
![squatch southern shorts laurels white.png](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/66e21cd64e1d49407b9f3ed8/7f270a97-c4c3-4409-a902-4431654d03af/squatch+southern+shorts+laurels+white.png)