VICENTE DiSANTI
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Vincente DiSanti is an award-winning filmmaker and founder of Womp Stomp Films, best known for creating the Never Hike Alone series—a viral fan film phenomenon that redefined indie horror and built a loyal global audience.

His work spans animation and live-action, with credits on studio films like Free Birds (Relativity Media), Rock Dog (Lionsgate), and Duck, Duck, Goose (Netflix).

Vincente has written, directed, and produced projects that have collectively garnered millions of views and over a million dollars in grassroots support. His genre storytelling blends grounded emotion with visceral spectacle, always driven by character and theme.

His latest project,The Bonding, continues this tradition—an intimate, harrowing tale of love pushed to terrifying extremes.

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The Interview

Vicente DiSanti

How did you discover The Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards and how did you decide to enter this contest among all the others?
I found the Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards while browsing FilmFreeway for competitive screenplay contests that offered optional feedback. SBISA consistently appeared among the platform's most popular and highly rated competitions, making it an easy choice to submit my work.


Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
I currently reside in my hometown of Wesport, Massachusetts, but  I live and worked in Los Angles between 2008-2023.


Your script stood out among hundreds of others. What was the inspiration for your story and why did you write a script instead of a short story or a novel? What inspires your overall journey into screenwriting?
The Bonding actually began as the concept for a fan film titled Jason Meets the Wolfman. It was intended to be part of a series of YouTube shorts that would pit modern horror icons against characters from the Universal Monsters era.

The original story centered on the Wolfman and his wife, who would take him deep into the forest every full moon so he could run free and stay out of trouble. In that version, the wife eventually wanders into Camp Crystal Lake while searching for him and, well, you can probably imagine what happens next.

Unfortunately, the project never got off the ground. Covid brought development to a halt and ultimately cut its lifespan short. Even so, the love story at its core always stayed with me. A few years later, I approached Stephen, Tim, and Mike about adapting that central idea into something entirely original, and they were immediately on board.

It ultimately took nearly four years for The Bonding to reach its current form. At one point, it existed as a short script that served as a proof of concept for the larger story. After earning several awards on the festival circuit in 2025, I expanded it into a feature screenplay.

Film has always been my preferred creative language. I’ve been messing around with cameras since the home camcorder days and movies have always played a large part of my social life. Every idea I’ve had for a story has been rooting in film, but I am proud to say that I have began to expand some of my ideas into graphic novels and short stories this year.
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That same passion continues to inspire my journey as a writer / director. Whether I am creating original projects like The Bonding or fan films such as Never Hike Alone, I am always drawn to stories that explore human relationships under extraordinary circumstances. At its heart, The Bonding asks a simple question, if the person you love became something monstrous, how far would you go to save them?

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VISIT VINCENTE'S PROJECT PAGE

How do you decide which stories to tell, and what draws you to these particular themes?
For The Bonding, I was drawn to write this horror love story after experiencing some real life heartbreak of my own. While the circumstances the characters find themselves in are fantastical, the emotional question at the center of the story is something many of us have joked about before: “Would you still love me if...?”

I wanted to explore that question seriously and push it to its absolute limit.

To me, The Bonding is a story about what true love really means. It's about being there for someone during their worst moments and sacrificing pieces of yourself for another person, sometimes at the cost of your own identity.

At what point do we draw the line? How much of ourselves are we willing to give before we become someone we no longer recognize?

Those are the themes that continue to draw me to this story and, in many ways, to the stories I choose to tell in general. I am interested in exploring human relationships under extraordinary circumstances because that is often where we discover who we truly are.
At its core, The Bonding asks a question that I don't think has an easy answer: Is love too strong to die, or are we too weak to kill it?

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What is your typical writing routine? How do you structure your workday to stay productive?
When I write, I do my best work in the early morning. I usually get up at 5:00 AM, make a cup of coffee, and sit at the computer until I can't write anymore.

My process is very iterative. Each new day, I start back at the beginning and work my way through what I wrote the day before, smoothing out the track I've already laid down while continuing to build new track at the end of it. As the story develops, it becomes easier to move through the earlier pages and tie threads backward into previous scenes in ways that feel natural and intentional.

Once I reach the end of a script, I don't consider it finished. That's when another phase of the process begins. I'll do several quick passes through the entire screenplay, making adjustments and refining details along the way. Then I'll send it out to trusted colleagues for feedback and, when it feels close, I'll organize table reads to hear the story out loud.
From there, it's all about taking more laps. I use every note, reaction, and conversation as another opportunity to refine the work until everything feels solid.

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How long did it take you to write your script...and what is your writing process? Do you outline...use index cards...white board...or just start with FADE IN?
The Bonding took nearly four years to reach its current form, though that timeline wasn't four straight years of writing. It evolved over time, beginning as an entirely different concept before eventually becoming the story it is today.

Most of my ideas begin as digital sticky notes on my desktop. An image here, a scene there, a piece of dialogue somewhere else. Over time, those fragments start to collect until I feel like I have enough to begin carving a path of tentpole moments for the characters to work toward.

Early in my career, I had the opportunity to work in development on feature animated films, and that experience heavily shaped my writing process. Once I feel like I have the story locked down, I transfer everything onto note cards and build a physical roadmap on the wall.

As the project evolves, those boards begin to fill up with images, handwritten notes, postcards, visual references, doodles, and snippets of dialogue. It becomes a living document that allows me to see the entire film at once and understand how all the pieces connect.
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That said, I've lost count of how many times my characters have disagreed with my roadmap and decided to go their own way. At that point, I just hang on for dear life and start treating the roadmap more like a North Star than a set of directions.
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For example, everything from the end of Act Two through the ending of The Bonding grew out of an entirely new thread because characters began showing up in places they were never originally supposed to be.

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How do you handle writer's block or moments of doubt (we all have them) during your creative process?
I get out of the script.
Trying to solve complicated story problems or force intense edits when you're stuck is like trying to race a Formula One car in a Mack truck. You're using the wrong tool for the job.

Instead, I go back to my sticky notes. I'll open a blank document and start writing in a space that won't compromise the integrity of the actual screenplay. It creates a safe environment where new ideas can flow without the pressure of immediately changing the script.

Then, later on, I can decide whether those ideas make the story better or worse.
I've found that's much more productive than letting ideas pile up in my head and block my train of thought. Writer's block, for me, usually isn't a lack of ideas. It's having too many ideas competing for attention at the same time.
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The key is getting those thoughts out of my head and onto the page, even if they never end up in the final draft.
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How do you approach competition entries, and what have you learned from participating in these contests?
I think festivals and screenplay competitions are a great measuring stick for an idea, but they are not the be all and end all of a script's value.

I tend to prioritize competitions that offer coverage because every writer needs feedback from readers who don't have a personal friendship to maintain. Honest, objective notes are incredibly valuable, even when they're difficult to hear.

Personally, I often treat scripts as homework assignments for myself. I need a deadline and something tangible to hand in. Competitions give me a reason to finish projects instead of endlessly tinkering with them.
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As a bonus, they occasionally provide an excuse to travel and reconnect with friends and collaborators who live all over the world.

Can you share a specific challenge you've faced in your screenwriting and how you overcame it?

I think it's safe to say the last six years have not been particularly kind to filmmakers. I've lost projects to both the pandemic and the industry strikes, projects that I invested a tremendous amount of time and energy into, only to find myself starting over again and again.

At the same time, the success of Never Hike Alone has been both a blessing and a challenge. Building a reputation through fan film projects can sometimes pigeonhole how people perceive you as a creative.

What many people don't realize is the incredible opportunity those films provided. We were able to operate entirely outside the studio system, take a long dormant franchise, and breathe new life into it at a time when even major studios were struggling to get productions off the ground.
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The biggest lesson I've learned is not to fight the path you're on. Every project, successful or not, teaches you something. The key is to keep creating and trust that the work will eventually speak for itself.

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The film and television industry is constantly evolving. How do you see the role of screenwriters changing, especially with the rise of streaming platforms and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence?

As someone who runs a YouTube channel and collaborates with filmmakers all over the world, I see screenwriting as an increasingly valuable skill because it's something I can put into action without relying entirely on the traditional studio system.

We live in a time where, if you can put a strong and actionable idea on the page, the tools exist to bring it to life. Whether that story ends up in a theater, on a streaming platform, or on YouTube, there have never been more avenues for storytellers to reach an audience.

As for artificial intelligence, I cannot condone its use at this time due to the environmental strain it places on our energy infrastructure and resources. Even if the technology were perfected, I believe the inherent value of art created by humans is far too important to be replaced by a system that cannot generate original thoughts or genuinely experience the human condition.

Which film or television writers inspire you? Why?
Jeremy Saulnier, Bryan Fuller, Leigh Whannell, Katie Dippold, and Nick Antosca are all writers I greatly admire.

Each of them has a bold and distinctive voice within the horror genre. While their work spans very different tones and styles, they consistently create rich, engaging characters and build worlds that feel authentic and memorable.

What inspires me most is their ability to use horror as a vehicle to explore deeper human themes. Their work reminds me that the best genre stories are never just about monsters or scares, but about the people forced to confront them

What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
Winning an award at a festival should only ever be a bonus to the overall experience. Entering solely to compete will only get you so far. The real value comes from the relationships you build along the way.

All of the success I've had in my career has come from collaborators who show up for one another when the time comes. Those connections have proven far more valuable than any trophy or accolade.

My advice would be to submit your work, seek honest feedback, and attend events whenever possible. You never know which conversation or new friendship will lead to your next opportunity.

What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?
Over the last ten years, I've been fortunate enough to build Never Hike Alone, a fan film saga inspired by the Friday the 13th franchise. What began as a single film in 2017 grew into a worldwide phenomenon, and nearly a decade later we're preparing to release our first animated entry, Ghosts in the Fog.

I'm also celebrating the release of my first graphic novel, Ghost Chicken, based on an award winning short script about a vegan restaurant haunted by the ghost of a chicken.
Pre orders are currently available for both projects on Kickstarter, and you can also follow my work and watch the entire Never Hike Alone series for free on YouTube.

Ghosts in the Fog: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wompstompfilms/ghosts-in-the-fog-an-animated-jason-voorhees-fan-film
Ghost Chicken: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wompstompfilms/ghost-chicken-a-graphic-novel

Where can the world find you online? 
www.youtube.com/wompstompfilms
https://www.facebook.com/wompstompfilms
https://www.instagram.com/wompstompfilms

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