VIRTUAL COCKTAIL
“Love’s Afoot” is a absurd comedy about a couple who end up seeing the wrong play during date night. This short was created as part of the 2026 Winterfilm competition, where teams are assigned a theme and a prop to include in their stories.
We were nominated for Best Screenplay, Best Sound Design, Best Production Design, and Best Costume Design as part of the 2026 Winterfilm competition. “Love’s Afoot” also played at the 2026 Loveland Shorts Film Festival in Ohio.
- Directed by Sebastian Russell
- Written by Sebastian Russell and Sean Paul Russell
- Produced by Maggie Crady
- Audio by Rachel Z. Meyer
- Gaffing by Matthew Kennedy
- Featuring Kayla Cieslinski and Bryce Carson
- Additional Support from Nick Alexander, Cloey Burris, Owen Rogers, and Nathan Kroeger
“Waiting for Bigfoot” is a heartfelt comedy about two strangers getting to know each other during one night’s hunt for Bigfoot. This film was inspired by a true story as told by standup comedian Stewart Huff.
This short film had its debut at the 2025 Loveland Shorts Film Festival. It has played at the Sky Arts Film Festival, GenCon Film Festival, Wellsboro Film Festival, and won “Best Bigfoot Film” at the Fortean Film Festival. You can follow Third Rule Media and Virtual Cocktail on social media to keep updated with “Waiting for Bigfoot” and see more information on our cast and crew on IMDb.
- Directed by Sebastian Russell
- Written by Sebastian Russell and Sean Paul Russell
- Story by Stewart Huff
- Produced by Maggie Crady
- Director of Photography Joe Palmer
- Assistant Director Bretton Miller
- Audio by Rachel Z. Meyer and Joel Berg
- Featuring Nathan Kroeger and Garrett Titlebaum
“Hello My Name is Friend-Man” is about a student documentary crew following the story of a hero wielding the power of friendship.
Our short film had its festival debut at the 2023 GenCon Film Festival. It has gone on to win Best Comedy at 2023 Indy PopCon International Film Festival and Best Humor at the 2024 Comic Con International Independent Film Festival. The film is available to watch now on the Virtual Cocktail channel here.
- Written & Directed by Sebastian Russell and Sean Paul Russell
- Produced by Maggie Crady
- Assistant Director Alex Klosowski
- Audio Recording by Michael Cole
- Score by Brody McFaden
- Costumes by Kayla Cieslinski and Sean Paul Russell
- Behind the Scenes Coverage by Jack Paley
The Loveland Frog is our first Virtual Cocktail project shot in Cincinnati. It made its festival debut at Indy PopCon International Film Festival (2024) and showed at the GenCon Film Festival (2024).
“The Armor” was created for the My Rode Reel 2021 film competition. It was also shown at GenCon Film Festival (2022), Indy PopCon International Film Festival (2022), Indy Film Fest (2022), Hoosier Films Annual Festival (2022), and The Great Canadian Comedy Film Festival (2022). It won the Audience Choice award at the Montage Film Festival at Indiana University (2022) and placed 1st in the College Short Film category from the Indiana Association of School Broadcasters (2022).
Our other short films can be viewed on the Virtual Cocktail YouTube channel.