The DV series is back in the hands of the filmmaker who started it.
Let’s Scream has exclusively learned that DV8 is now in production at Anhedenia Films, with original creator Evan Jacobs returning to write and direct the eighth installment in the long-running indie horror series.
Jacobs created DV more than a decade ago and directed the first six entries himself. What began as a stripped-down found-footage horror movie built around a MiniDV camera eventually grew into a series that allowed Jacobs to play around with technology, surveillance, streaming and whatever new idea made sense for the next installment.
That approach fits the way Jacobs has made movies for most of his career. He began directing in 1995 and has spent decades making films outside the traditional studio system through Anhedenia Films. In a 2018 interview about his DIY filmmaking, Jacobs explained that learning to make movies quickly and inexpensively became part of the process rather than a limitation. He cited DV as one of the films where working from an outline instead of a full screenplay gave him room to experiment while still making something recognizably rooted in horror.
The first three DV movies established the series, followed by DV4: Electric Nightmares, DV5: Cord Cutter Hell and DV6: Season of Halloween. Jacobs has continued adjusting the concept as technology changes, with DV5, for example, turning its attention toward cord cutting and the streaming world.
For the seventh movie, Jacobs did something unusual for the series and stepped away from the director’s chair, allowing another filmmaker to take over DV7, which is like Don Coscarelli letting someone else make a Phantasm movie. (For those who don’t know, Don Coscarelli directed the first four Phantasm movies before handing Phantasm: Ravager to David Hartman while remaining involved in the project.)
With DV8, he’s taking the camera back.
Jacobs confirmed directly to Let’s Scream that the movie is now shooting under the Anhedenia Films banner with him once again at the helm. He isn’t revealing the story yet, so exactly where DV8 takes the series remains a mystery for now.
That secrecy feels appropriate for a filmmaker whose movies have often developed out of whatever resources, locations and ideas were available at the time. Jacobs has described resourcefulness as one of the biggest things he carried over from his background in the Orange County hardcore scene, where finding a workaround was simply part of getting something made.
That same mentality has kept Anhedenia Films moving for decades. Jacobs has worked across horror, science fiction, animation, comedy, documentaries and other genres, often handling several jobs himself and making movies on budgets that would barely cover catering on a studio production. He has said his goal has always been to remain prolific and keep making films rather than wait around for permission or a larger budget.
DV8 is currently in production at Anhedenia Films. We’ll have more on DV8 as Evan Jacobs is ready to reveal it.
