A struggling actor desperate to prove to his girlfriend and the rest of the world that he has what it takes to achieve his dreams. But when fate comes knocking with an audition for a mysterious new project, will he be willing to go to the dark places the role requires?
By Robert Shepyer (Guest Instigator)


Have you ever thought demons conspire to make movies? With a lifetime in show business and the art world, Daniel Louis Rivas and Greg B. Young have indulged this morbid curiosity with a film that pushes all the evils of Hollywood to the surface called COLD READ (2025).
Cold Read tells the story of Bugs, a struggling actor (Rivas), who attempts to repair his career and relationship with an audition for a mysterious role that requires him to go to dark places. The film comes from creators that know where the proverbial—and literal—bodies are buried in Hollywood.
Hollywood’s dark side was once an open secret, nowadays it seems to be its selling point. With viewership plummeting as people flock to other forms of media and a myriad of bad press against the industry’s most infamous, Daniel Louis Rivas and GB Young have made the short film everyone has seen in the back of their minds. Whether real or symbolic, the sort of greedy, ego-obsessed demons featured in Cold Read can not only destroy fellow human beings to make a movie, but also destroy the artform they claim to care so much about.

Born in New York City, Daniel Louis Rivas has been a multimedia performer since childhood, with roles in films like Sid and Nancy, Cherry, Never Been Kissed, Altamont Now, Shackles, and Junkie, Cash Out 2 (High Rollers), and TV credits in NCIS, Rizzoli and Isles, New York Undercover and more. He’s worked with actors like John Travolta, Leonardo DiCaprio, and James Franco, matching their passion but falling short of their success.
With hands in painting, directing, and writing, Daniel Louis Rivas shares directing and writing credits with GB Young and-writing with Rebecca Swan in Cold Read. The film was made possible by producers Stephanie Reuler and executive producer Lauren Daisy White (playing Rivas’ on-screen girlfriend), and longtime producing partner, Charisse Sanzo. The project’s cinematographer was Oliver Ponce. With this all-star cast and crew, Cold Read represents the voice of the voiceless delivering a blood-curdling scream at Hollywood’s crimes against art and artists.


It’s a sentiment Daniel Louis Rivas takes to heart as a disillusioned Latino actor, pigeonholed by forces with limited creative capacity. The world of possibility in his art is reduced to a hustle against the same handful of actors in his category by a broken system. After years of rejection, Rivas has flipped the adage “If you can’t beat them, join them” on its head and decided to hit the system where it hurts with Cold Read.
In an era where so much media begs the viewer not to think, Cold Read grabs the viewer by the collar and asks what they are willing to compromise for their craft. Are money, success, ego, and fame worth sacrificing true expression? Cold Read is for the artists that refused Hollywood’s trick—it’s a reward for their courage and an affirmation that values matter in art. But also, it’s a warning to the artists that swallowed the bitter pill of compromise, showing us exactly what it looks like when a soul gets sold.
As an official selection from Sinister Horror Film Fest’s short film contest, Cold Read has quickly started garnering accolades after its recent release. The film is making the rounds through underground and mainstream horror channels now, so make sure to follow the creators to see where Cold Read takes them next.

Robert Shepyer is a published novelist, produced screenwriter, filmmaker, copywriter for the Psycho Las Vegas music festival and editor of Jankysmooth, LA’s coolest music blog. Growing up as a Jewish punk and cinephile on the streets of Hollywood inspired every bit of his prose and worldview. He has a Bachelor’s in screenwriting and had four books published with Low Key, Bacchus Death Collective, Hemorrhage, and Do Birds of Paradise Believe in Heaven? His next book, Goth Girl, is being published by Histria Books in Fall 2024. A filmmaker at heart, he has one script produced called Area 407 and just had another called Boy in Blue optioned by Volition Media (One True Loves, Sam & Kate) and Division Films (Spring Breakers) in 2022. @robshepyer
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