HorrOrigins mentor Angela Mancuso, producer of the Happy Death Day films, has a long and impressive career working in the film and TV industry, a career that she calls “accidental.” She worked for HBO in its earliest days and was eventually the president of Universal Cable Entertainment, before leaving to begin producing. Her credits include the Emmy winning series Monk and Battlestar Galactica, among many others. Despite a wide and storied career in the industry, she will always be drawn to the horror genre for its ability to evoke vicarial emotions. Mancuso talked to us about those early days at HBO, producing Happy Death Day, and the importance of mentoring young script writers and filmmakers.

David Desola and his writing partner, Pedro Rivero, are the screenwriters of the film The Platform, which is currently streaming on Netflix and has been featured on the streaming platform’s top 10 list within the United States. Both David and Pedro have a friendship that spans almost as long as their careers. During that time, they’ve written short films, features, and plays. The Platform, originally produced in Spain and winner of the People’s Choice Award for Midnight Madness at the Toronto Film Festival (TIFF), is the first time that a work of theirs has garnered international attention. Both currently reside in Spain, continuing to do what they love: writing. 
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The Platform, or El Hoyo, in Spanish, literally meaning ‘the hole,’ is about a vertical prison in which the cells are stacked on top of each other. Each cell has two inmates. A platform, starting at the top, makes its way down, with a plethora of food. However, the inmates on each cell underneath the first can only eat what the level above them left behind or didn’t have time to finish. After a certain amount of time, the two inmates will stick together as they wake up in another cell. The thing is, they don’t know whether the next level will be lower or higher than the one they’re on now, making it either easier or harder for them to survive and remain sane.​