Today we’d like to introduce you to Vincent Dormani.
Hi Vincent, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Growing up, I always loved halloween. My parents would take me, my brother and sister to the halloween store every year to get a new costume, and I always gravitated towards the scary ones. Because of this, over the years we accumulated a ton of costumes, props, and decorations. I also got really into LEGO when I was just about 5 or 6 years old, and just became very creative through those.
My mom was, and still is a photographer, so growing up she always had a home video camera recording our every move. And she would let us use it. My brother Frank was the one who started with the camera and began recording whatever it was that we did outside like playing baseball in front of our house with friends, or most of the time playing with our neighbor Sam who lived next door to us. The 3 of us would basically just be putting on skits and recording them, most of the time with our scary costumes on. Those slowly evolved to some proper short films we made at the time, notably such as “Jason goes to Hell again.” I remember always having the camera around, and always filming something.
Alongside this, I loved LEGO. In the glorious time of 2008 on YouTube, my 5 year old self discovered that people where making these LEGO mini figures move by using stop motion. It was magic to me. I began these slightly later, around age 8 when I got my first camera that was all mine – an orange point and shoot water proof camera. I would make all sorts of LEGO stop motions over these next years, and this is surely what kept me invested in loving filmmaking.
At age 12, 2015ish, I had a DSLR that my mom passed down to me so I can do more professional looking stop motions. But, one night hanging out with one of my best friends, he mentioned that he and another friend started watching short horror films on YouTube… He showed me Lights Out by David Sandberg. That was the moment for me where I had a new challenge, making a film with real people, no longer LEGO.
David Sandberg is probably one of, if not THE most inspiration filmmaker for my generation with a similar start up to me. He demonstrated through behind the scenes videos how to make short films at home with no budget, and that is exactly the situation you are forced to be creative in when you start out this young.
I made my first short film at Age 13 when we had a snow storm. The film follows a pickaxe wielding man in a snowsuit following a kid running through his neighborhood in the snow. There is some fake ketchup blood, and some interesting imagery. Funnily enough, looking back at this film a decade later, I can still see some stylistic choices in it that I still sometimes make.
Now at the age of 23, I have made over 30 short horror films, gaining over 4 Million views on YouTube and 30K Subscribers. In March of this year, I wrapped production on my debut feature length film “Slow Drain”, which I am aiming to be finished with an December and prepare for its 2027 Festival Run and trying to lock down a world premiere.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I think the road is getting smoother. Sometimes when you are spending a lot of time on one project, the days can feel like months, and you just want to finish it and get it out to the world. I am naturally very impatient, but have been slowly but surely becoming much better at it. I have had times where I try to produce a film as quickly as possible just to get it out and get “views”, and other times where I have spent 8 months on a short before putting it out.
Views have slowly become less important to me. The more time spent on a film, making it as polished and great as you possibly can is more more valuable than views on a poorly finished film. I am grateful to be in the correct headspace with this now.
The past 3 years have been the most up and down for me. Between 2023-2024 I made about 15 short films. But at the end of 2024, I took a halting stop to my process and just re-cooped. I started making way less, but really focusing on the quality and production of each film.
2025 I only made 1 short film the entire year in that February.
2026 in March I shot my feature film, and just recently shot my latest Short film in July.
Going from making upwards of 8 short films a year to only 1 a year in the last 2 seems crazy, but the truth is that I am more focused than ever and am on a much better path to achieving what I hope to. Quality over Quantity will always win.
I am now represented by Elliot Pictures, and am continuously trying to grow and make my next great film.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a writer and director, and I create horror films. I wear a lot of hats on my productions, often times shooting my own films while directing. I am known for creating high production value low budget short horror films for my production company Buried Hatchet Productions where I have 30K Subscribers. I specialize in horror films.
I am most proud of my debut feature film that I completely self funded, and will be wrapping up post-production on in December.
What sets me apart from others may be my style of filmmaking, and personal determination to keep pushing.
What makes you happy?
My family. I am recently married to my wife Anna, and I couldn’t ask for a better person to keep me motivated. Knowing that I have my family always cheering me on and supporting me makes what I do so much more fulfilling and easier to keep going. The path of filmmaking is not easy and Is often filled with a lot of disappointment and relentless work. My wife keeps me motivated always and Is my biggest supporter. Also, our puppy Maple who stays with me through the day as I work in my studio.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.youtube.com/@BuriedHatchetProductions
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vinmakeshorror/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vincent.dormani
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BuriedHatchetProductions
