Whit Spurgeon

Vessel is the story of the passengers of Flight 298, a red-eye on its way from Boston to San Francisco. Midway through the flight the passengers encounter an otherworldly force and are subsequently thrown into a fight for their lives. The story focuses on Danny (an everyday traveler), Emma (a flight attendant), Chloe (an unattended underage passenger) and Jim and Murray (the two pilots).

Ten years ago, over forty people were brutally torn to pieces in Louisiana’s Honey Island Swamp. Over the past decade, lone survivor Andrew’s claims that local legend Victor Crowley was responsible for the horrific massacre have been met with great controversy. But when a twist of fate puts him back at the scene of the tragedy, Crowley is mistakenly resurrected and Andrew must face the bloodthirsty ghost from his past.

Serial killer Countess Elizabeth Bathory believed that bathing in virgin blood would keep her young and beautiful forever. Still alive today, she's found a perfect hunting ground for her "botox" as an abstinence educator in conservative America...but will she finally be stopped by a brave young blogger and reporter for the high school paper?

Everything That Rises Must Converge is a hybrid documentary/fiction film. It follows four real-life adult film performers as they start their day at home, get in their cars and drive to work in a nondescript residential house in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California. In between documentary scenes, we also encounter several fictional characters whose stories revolve around the same residential house where the performers work. Shown as a grid of four simultaneous images, the film weaves scenes of everyday life with moments of beauty, as well as the strange and absurd moments of apparent convergence.

Steve is bearing the weight of his isolated existence, when a person enters his world. This person happens to be his bathtub drain. Is this some sick prank? Or is it the root of something much deeper?

A man suddenly gets a call from a stranger threatening the life of his girlfriend if he doesn't do what he’s told.

In a sleepy mountain town, Cindy witnesses the murder of her parents by a blood-thirsty green figure in a red Santa suit. Twenty years later, the Christmas-hating monster begins to terrorize the town once more. Cindy finds new purpose in stopping the creature and saving the holiday.

Harvey receives an unexpected visit from Nathan, his son he abandoned years ago. They embark on a hike through the New Mexico backcountry, only for the reunion to turn awkward as Nathan confronts his father.

Inspired by true events, a man's normal life is turned upside down when he inherits an ancient crystal artifact, and becomes "the key" to unshackle the world from the dominance of energy slavery and the underground one world government.

After 6 years of being in a long distance relationship, Sandra travels to the Middle East to see her girlfriend and ask her the big question.

Adam, a white man in his late 30s, is visiting his Black ex-lover, Peter, who is dying of AIDS in a DC hospital. The year is 1993. Also in attendance is Cherie, a Black lesbian naval officer who is Peter’s best friend. The two listen sympathetically to Peter’s complaints about how his “Christian” family has abandoned him until a nurse arrives to give Peter medication. While waiting in the hospital cafeteria, Adam and Cherie, meeting that day for he first time, compare notes about the course of Peter’s illness. This leads them to a terrible discovery. Adam, in particular, is confronted with a choice that, while still in shock, he doesn’t know how to handle.

"Ladies Knight" is Joe Rothenberg's undergrad senior thesis project from USC's Hench Division of Animation and Digital Arts.