Table of Contents
Three Key Takeaways
- Inheritance is a deeply personal horror-family drama hybrid exploring inherited trauma and fear.
- The film’s meticulous special effects makeup and kinetic editing style underscore its intense emotional core.
- Independent filmmaking’s creative freedom empowered Misiano and Wallach to tell a bold, genre-defying story.
Anthony Misiano, a multi-hyphenate filmmaker based in New York City, brings his latest short film Inheritance to FilmQuest 2025.
Co-directed with Tyler A. Wallach, who also served as production designer, the film stars Misiano himself and a talented ensemble cast.
Known for his award-winning work in both directing and acting, Misiano pairs his meticulous filmmaking approach with a personal exploration of fear and family legacy in this haunting genre piece.
What drew you to make this film? Why this story, and why now?
My co-director Tyler A. Wallach and myself had each separately worked on horror projects in recent years, but neither of which did we write. We knew we wanted to collaborate and this genre was the direction to go, but we wanted to do something more than your typical blood splatter and ghosts (not that we don't love those). So we started asking ourselves what our real fears were - not those we all tell everyone: spiders, heights or a zombie hoard. What were our real, deepest fears? The answer became Inheritance, a story consequently both deeply frightening and extremely personal.
"If you're still thinking about it days later, then I've done my job."
What surprised you most about the filmmaking process this time—creatively or logistically? Was there a moment on set or in post that completely changed how you saw the story?
I'd have to say the makeup. I wasn't so much surprised by the process or how difficult or time consuming it would be, I'd worked with special effects makeup before, I was just blown away by the attention to detail and dedication given by our incredible team. We were a small, independent short film lucky enough to be working with an incredible team of artists Philip Harrah & Melanie Licata led by the remarkably talented Jush Turi. We are forever grateful for what they did and hope to work together in the future.
Is there a moment in the film that feels the most you—something only you could have made?
Without spoiling too much, the sequence in the middle involving the belts. I pay a lot of bills working as an editor, and that kinetic but intentional cutting between wide, slow tableaus and fast, close inserts and reactions with the sound and music slicing with it - it's a sequence that was planned exactly and I'm very happy we pulled it off.
What was the hardest creative decision you made while making this film?
Shaving my body! lol But if you watch the film you'll understand why. It was a last minute decision I hated but knew was necessary.
"The answer became 'Inheritance,' a story consequently both deeply frightening and extremely personal."
What do you hope audiences take away from your film?
I'd like the story to linger. I'd like people a little shaken. If you're still thinking about it days later, then I've done my job.
How has this film shaped or shifted the kind of stories you want to tell next?
Truthfully? The darkness inherent in the subject matter has made me want to find a way to better walk the fine line in the future of gritty & engrossing with fun & appealing. "Inheritance" may have lent too in total on the former.
What’s a tool, technique, or resource that really helped you during production?
The Aputure LS 1200d. It's a light that can stand in for the sun and on our set it did exactly that, repeatedly. With the exception of a singular outdoor scene, there is almost no natural light in Inheritance. Practically every window was lit carefully with Aputure LED spotlights, including a rented pair of the extra-beefy 1200d. So thank you, Aputure, for making such a damn fine product.
Independent filmmakers often rewrite the rules out of necessity. What do you think is the greatest strength of independent filmmaking, and how did you lean into that on this project?
The beauty of short films is that you truly can tell whatever story you want, the way YOU want to tell it. It is highly unlikely that corporations are investing tens or hundreds of millions of dollars into your project; in other words, you have very little pressure to please a potentially pandering sugar-daddy who always pressures you to play it safe. So take risks. Be bold. Shake yourself out of your comfort zone and try to do the same to audiences be it though comedy, drama, horror or otherwise. Tell YOUR story.
"The beauty of short films is that you truly can tell whatever story you want, the way YOU want to tell it."
What does it mean to you to have your film selected for FilmQuest, one of the world’s top reviewed genre film festivals?
It is an absolute badge of honor and one we wear with pride. We've been fortunate enough to be graced with two nominations this year from FilmQuest, Best Actor and Best Makeup Effects. Our prayers to Cthulhu his greatness will carry us through.
FilmQuest celebrates the majesty and might of genre filmmaking across fantasy, horror, sci-fi, action, thriller, western, kung-fu, and beyond. How does your film fit within—or push the boundaries of—genre storytelling?
Inheritance is not easy to define by genre which makes it especially kind for FilmQuest to include us. The tools of horror work as a metaphor in a film that is ultimately a family drama. Where more traditional dramatic festivals might see the horror ingredients as disqualifiers, FilmQuest is bold enough to see the dramatic ingredients as something to enhance and carry the horror. For that, we say, "thank you."
Where do you see this film going next?
A feature adaptation has been written. Maybe there's a future in that deeper exploration.
"At the core of all my work is a desire to envelope. To draw an audience into the world of the story and truly make them feel the images and sounds on screen as if they were there themselves."
Cast & Crew
- Daniel Augustin — Executive Producer
- Josh Turi — Special Effects Makeup
- Adele Etheridge Woodson — Music
- Callan Barry — Young Jason
- Myla Pitt — Old Cassie
- Savannah Stein — Young Cassie
- Lucy Elizabeth Robinson — Matty
- Joy Donze — Christine
- Toni Ann Donohue — Shirley
- Carl William Garrison — Gus
