J. Alphonse Nicholson and Scott Mescudi are among the cast of a chilling new vision in horror, Spilled Milk, a short film from writer-director Jared Leaf. The project is produced under Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions and TIFF’s No Drama Initiative. Joining them are Jerry O’Connell, Brandon Perea, and Rodney Van Johnson, with Mescudi also composing the score.
Spilled Milk flips a familiar phrase into a nightmare, asking: What really happened to all those deadbeat dads who went to the store to get milk? The story follows a father whose innocent errand leads to a haunting encounter with a mysterious figure known as “The Milk Man.”
The film is one of five projects in the inaugural No Drama class — a year-long program supported by Monkeypaw Productions, TIFF, and Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, awarding each filmmaker $50,000 to craft horror that confronts culture, society, and our deepest fears. This first class features:
- Chandler Crump – Morty, starring Dominique Gayle and Tiberius Byrd
- Charlie Dennis – The Pigs Underneath, starring Josh Tedeku, Vinette Robinson, and Rochenda Sandall
- Helena Hawkes – Thick Skin, starring Keyla Monterroso Mejia and Courtney Eaton
- Ariel Zengotita – Imago, starring Didi Romero and Ada Luz Pla
All five shorts will premiere out of competition at TIFF next month, with executive producers including Peele, Win Rosenfeld, Keisha Senter, Dana Gills, and Kesila Childers. Casting was led by Kharmel Cochrane.