Last week we shared a new sci-fi short film called True Skin that got the internets all aflutter. We reported at the time that director Stephan Zlotescu was set to take meetings at production companies and studios in order to adapt the short into a feature film, and boy did he find a home for the project. Merely a week after the film went online, Warner Bros. has now acquired the short and plans to expand it into a feature film with Zlotescu at the helm. Moreover, David Heyman—the producer behind the Harry Potter franchise—has come aboard to produce alongside the short’s producer Chris Sewall, who will be a co-producer. Heyman’s no stranger to sci-fi, as he’s also producing Alfonso Cuaron’s highly anticipated sci-fi drama Gravity.Hit the jump for more on the short, including how Warner Bros. plans to expand the story into a feature.
The story for True Skin takes place in a not-too-distant future where humans regularly augment their bodies with robotic parts. Augmentation is too expensive in the U.S., so our hero heads to the black market in Bangkok where he comes into possession of a mysterious chip that starts turning him robotic and makes him the target of some nefarious forces.Per Heat Vision, Warner Bros. plans to incorporate the central conceit of the short as it “thrusts the hero into a race against time to elude his pursuers and save what’s left of his humanity.â€Â The idea is to maintain the sci-fi scope on a budget similar to that of Fox’s hit Chronicle. Zlotescu’s background in visual effects served him well in making an impressive short on a tight budget, and he crafted the film with the express purpose of showcasing his ideas for how the story could work as a feature film.This process is becoming more and more common as YouTube and the expanding availability of low-cost filmmaking tools is making it easier for aspiring filmmakers to display their work.  Zlotescu's is just one of many recent success stories that have come out of the short film world.  Watch Stephan Zlotsecu’s full short True Skin below.