Pitch Deck - Domicidal

DOMICIDAL

What if your worst enemy in the world
was where you live?

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When a cantankerous podcaster’s smart home is hacked, she must stop the hacker before her house kills her.

A haunted house film where the haunting is caused by hacked smart home technology.

JAX BORDEN, misanthropic feminist tech podcaster, moves into a smart home to do a promotional podcast about the house’s technology.

At first it seems like Jax’s perfect gig. She hates people, so living alone with robots and smart appliances tending to her every need is ideal.

But soon the tech goes bad. At first it’s little things. Jax’s stuff is never where she left it. Lights flash on and off as if motion-detecting ghosts. The microwave turns on while Jax has her head inside.

Then the shower tries to scald her to death. Jax only escapes by smashing through the powered-shut doors. Things escalate as the hidden misogynous hacker controlling the house goes beyond tormenting Jax to actively trying to kill her.

With the technology she loves turning on her, Jax must decide:

Can she learn to ask people for help?

Filmmaker's notes

I have spent my career building software for giant tech companies and startups. I have seen people go from being scared of using computers to trusting them too much, letting machines control all aspects of their lives. And I am painfully aware of how bad the security is for embedded systems, the Internet of Things where everything is online: appliances, cars, and soon even the clothes that we wear.

I also have first-hand experience of tech world misogyny. I have been on teams where layoffs only ever target women engineers. And I’ve had to explain to male engineers that no, men are not biologically better suited to be programmers than women. This pisses me off: I have a wife and two daughters, and no woman should have to deal with that kind of static.

I am making DOMICIDAL to address both of these themes.

Jax, the lead

Ornery. Combative. Smart as hell.
She can make you angry even when you agree with her.

Actors represent possible casting and are not attached to project.

Her best friend Crystal

If you asked Crystal what she thought of a book you wrote, she’d give it to you straight. But she’d be first in line to buy you a drink when the reviews came in.

Actors represent possible casting and are not attached to project.

Tech support Zoe

Tech-savvy. Community-building. Sharp.
Experiencing tech-world misogyny has taught her empathy.

Actors represent possible casting and are not attached to project.

DOMICIDAL was a quarter-finalist in the Motion Picture Academy’s prestigious Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship, placing in the top 4% of all submitted screenplays.

This joins the many awards that our other films and screenplays have won:

About the Filmmakers

Writer-director-producer Joe Dzikiewicz has a PhD in computer science and over 30 years experience in the tech industry. In the last ten years he’s directed over twenty short films and written five award-winning screenplays and a TV pilot.

Art director Julia Dzikiewicz served as art director for several award-winning short films. She is also a studio artist whose art has appeared in several galleries and solo-shows throughout the country. Her work was featured on PBS.

Horror does not require big-name actors or large production budgets to find an audience, only good stories told by creative filmmakers.


The Gallows, 2015 Budget: $100K Box Office: $43M	Lady Macbeth, 2017 Budget: $660K Box Office: $5.4M	X, 2022 Budget: $1M Box Office: $14.6M

Source of data: IMDB Pro, Dateline Hollywood.

Thank you!

Joe Dzikiewicz

joe@crimesOfTheArt.com

(703) 554-5758

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