David William James Elliott's short film "I Forgot to Unsubscribe from a Stock Footage Service" will debut on YouTube on July 24, 2026, on the newly launched RIOUGA channel. The film, which explores the absurdity of subscription traps and the creative impulse, has garnered numerous awards during its festival run, including Best Stunt and Best Female Director—despite being directed by a man and composed entirely of stock footage.
The film follows a filmmaker who, after forgetting to cancel a stock footage subscription, embarks on increasingly desperate schemes to use the footage to reclaim his money. What begins as a practical problem evolves into a metatextual commentary on creativity and identity, described by Elliott as "part memoir, part documentary, and part existential horror film for aging millennials."
Elliott, an MIT and Stanford graduate with training from Second City and the Royal Shakespeare Company, credits the subscription incident with reigniting his artistic career. "I was happy making one-off appearances on murder mystery shows and helping with camera work," he said. "But a combination of being stuck with that subscription and receiving a free waiver from the Milwaukee Film Festival inspired this project."
During its festival run, the film accumulated dozens of awards from events in Mumbai, Tokyo, Paris, Cannes, London, Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York. It also gained recognition for its voice work, writing, editing, and its homage to David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive"—recreated entirely with stock clips. This success has inspired an upcoming project exposing scam film festivals, though Elliott remains tight-lipped on details.
The film's YouTube debut coincides with the launch of RIOUGA (Royal Institute of Objectively Universally Good Art), a production company co-founded by Elliott and Juan Sebastian Carcosa. Described as "PBS meets Adult Swim, for burnouts, by burnouts," RIOUGA aims to produce content exploring fine art and niche subcultures. The company is currently developing three interview series and a collection of short films and documentaries scheduled for release throughout summer and fall 2026.
Elliott's return to the arts has been prolific: in the past six months, he has released five other film projects and a poetry book. The film "I Forgot to Unsubscribe from a Stock Footage Service" is available for viewing on YouTube starting July 24.
