Charlie Shackleton attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Zodiac Killer Project at the Egyptian Theatre on January 27, 2025, in Park City, UT. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)
By Shelby Shaw
I just hate waste, so the idea of devoting a lot of time and energy and thought to something and then having nothing exist, is obviously an inevitable part of the filmmaking process, but one I find very frustrating, says writer-director Charlie Shackleton about working on a project that is forced to be abandoned. The thing I normally would funnel that [frustration] toward is just boring my friends in the pub by making them listen to me describe unrealized ideas. Shackleton's experimental documentary, Zodiac Killer Project, is a personal essay film which details his need to abort working on a movie right before starting on production. The film, planned to be about the notorious serial killer, came to a halt after the rights to use a tell-all book - which Shackleton had been consulting for his script - unexpectedly fell through at the last minute. So I thought, why not bore the world's friends in the cinematic pub'? he jokes to the post-premiere audience on January 27.
Premiering in the NEXT section at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, Zodiac Killer Project is constructed almost entirely from 16mm film shots of parking lots, building exteriors, and what most filmmakers would probably consider to be only the necessary establishing shots of their scenes. Shackleton's voiceover gives his first-person report on the movie he was suddenly no longer able to make, yet the story is told with witty humor and a candid, improvised narrative. Interspersed with a dissection of true crime entertainment, Shackleton includes numerous television clips from the genre to illustrate the most clich of tropes, meaningless B-roll footage that's seemingly always shown, and overused cinematic devices that add up to the recognizable format we now call a true crime show. And all along the way, Shackleton is telling us how this is what he would have done with his own movie. Refreshingly honest about the sometimes deceptive filmmaking process (even with documentary) and the pitfalls of an industry that prioritizes treating creativity as a business, Shackleton's Zodiac Killer Project is a much-needed film about pursuing your ideas to fruition - even when the plan must pivot, mutate, and (d)evolve if necessary. Zodiac Killer Project says: just do it. Make the thing. See your project to the end. You will not regret it.
I'm not a filmmaker who works well with total freedom. I like restrictions and limits and something to push against. So even in the instant of finding out we couldn't make the [original] documentary, it was agonizing, but there was probably already the glimmer of a thought of, This is like the ultimate restriction: not being able to make the film. At all.' Shackleton laughs along with the audience at this. The feature-length film is an unrealized idea, realized.
But as much as Zodiac Killer Project plays out as a spoken essay film, it was actually spontaneously ad-libbed by Shackleton in a London recording booth, surrounded by his notes ( every idea I'd ever had for this documentary ) and reference material, while watching the footage that he had shot in California. [Being unscripted] threw me off in all these unusual, or unexpected - even to me - directions, because you're sitting there talking for however many hours and you do just remember things or think things up. The freedom of permitting himself to think out loud, uninterrupted, unlocked a number of insights and connections for Shackleton as he spoke to himself in the recording booth, achieving his desired conversational tone for the film, as if he were telling the story to a friend.
Obviously there's a lot of conversation about true crime, [there are] a lot of think pieces about true crime, and they're almost exclusively focused on why the audiences want it, Shackleton says. There's almost no focus on supply and the fact that we're just making loads of this stuff. I think the moral hazard, at least on the part of the filmmakers, is pushing any moral inquiry outside. Because the other thing about that focus on why audiences want that' is that that's a critique that true crime itself can completely absorb and contain just by having five minutes at the end, where you go like, Why do people want this stuff, eh? Why do you, the viewer, want to watch this? I hope you're looking inward right now.' The audience erupts into laughter at Shackleton's jab at the genre, and those who enjoy it. To me, that just feels like a complete abdication of our own responsibility. What is it to be a filmmaker going to someone's grave site to film your little reenactments, and muttering like, Oof, our audiences are really sick'? The crowd laughs with Shackleton, but maybe they're also laughing at themselves.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
15/06/2026
Detach from Direct-Attached: How Remote Editing with EVO Keeps Creative Teams Mo...
14/06/2026
Library captures 1960s R&B/pop drum sound
Following on from their recent wave of plug-in effects, Iconic Instruments have just launched an all-new virtual d...
14/06/2026
HBO Comedy Rooster Shot with URSA Cine 17K 65
Brie Clayton June 14, 2026
0 Comments
Large format brings viewers intimately close to characters.
Black...
13/06/2026
Latest expansion pack includes 252 presets
Devious Machines have recently introduced another expansion for their powerful multi-effects plug-in, Infiltrator...
13/06/2026
Create custom DAW/plug-in controllers using prompts
MetaGrid have recently introduced an all-new AI Builder function to their touchscreen-based control surf...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production, Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it has given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what o...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
Charlie Shackleton attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Zodiac Killer Project at the Egyptian Theatre on January 27, 2025, in Park City, UT. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)
