A one-dollar licence changed a career. We sit with filmmaker John Mann to trace how Stephen King’s Dollar Baby program led to Popsy, a nine-minute moral sledgehammer that cut backstory, ditched  empathy, and focused on pure dread. John lifts the curtain on the odd rules of Dollar Babies, the surreal “mail a dollar” contract, and why strict screening limits can still supercharge a festival run and land you in the Academy Museum’s spotlight.

From there, we switch gears into process. John breaks down Missy, a lonely survivor tale built on threes, practical symbolism, and a colour map of fire and water that hints at purgatory without ever spelling it out. We talk about how ambiguity keeps a horror audience leaning forward, and how to make short films that feel bigger than their runtime. Then comes Sweetie, a three-minute shock that keeps getting asked if it’s a trailer—now expanded into an 88-page feature inspired by the emotional intelligence of Let the Right One In. It’s a clinic on developing micro-ideas into market-ready projects while keeping tone, pace, and curiosity intact.

Along the way we hit the business side: why true crime often feels hollow, how good villains are half-right, where franchise sprawl undercuts catharsis, and what practical effects can do that CGI can’t. John shares wins with CBC Gem and Bell’s Pub Crawl, turning pub culture into living history and proving that regional stories can scale. 

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