A film within a film within a filmmaking awards ceremony: Biopic is Summer Holly’s spooky 2025 AirTV ATVA submission about the ethics of murderous monetised content.
Biopic tells the tale of a band of filmmakers making a movie about Zelda Jackson, a girl who was murdered in the 80s by the Grim Reaper Killer, a violent serial murderer.
As the young creatives prance about the abandoned murder site recreating the savage deaths, Zelda rises from her grave to see who has intruded the scene of her death.
An avid horror fan, Summer decided to dedicate this ATVA submission not just to the genre. Thinking about the horrors of the real-world and the often light-hearted discussions of tragic, gory deaths, Summer decided to use this film to make a statement on empathy.
“It’s a critique on true crime and people who use these real crimes and deaths as a form of entertainment,” she explained.
“I got the idea from a movie called The Haunting of Sharon Tate. Of course, it’s about the murder of Sharon Tate but they tried to make it into a supernatural horror type thing… and it just kinda pissed me off.”
Summer decided she wanted her film to rectify the common and disrespectful mishandling of murder victims’ stories. Using and twisting classic horror tropes, she created a film that horror fans will get a kick from and true crime fans will get a slap on the wrist from.
Somewhat surprisingly, comedy lovers can get something out of this film too.
“I originally did try and make Biopic a serious film but, as I was writing it, I realised some parts of it were coming across as silly or goofy,” Summer said. “Then, when I was filming, some other even quite serious parts were coming across the same way.
“Instead of making myself change it, I decided to lean into it. I’ll let the film be what it is and if people find it funny or scary… either is great.”
Leaning into the camp aspect of horror only strengthens Biopic. With references to Scary Movie, The Slumber Party Massacre, Carrie, Summer’s film is an ode to classic horror.
It’ll be a delight to view at the AirTV 2025 ATVA’s.
Featured image credit: Summer Holly.
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