In lifting the curtain on Hollywood’s terrifying pitfalls, graduate Lilia Doytchinova has found great success in her film “The Haunting of Hollywood” (2024).

Originally hailing from Bulgaria, Doytchinova attended the School of Cinematic Arts, graduating in 2014 from the cinematic arts, film and television production undergraduate program. While there, she developed her artistic style through repeated experimentation. The SCA coursework, she said, allowed her to make mistakes and experiment with new and different material.

“I never wanted to make the perfect shorts,” Doytchinova said. “I just wanted to make the most provoking shorts.” 

A particular inspiration Doytchinova discovered during her time at USC was David Lynch. She is a fan of former SCA professor Drew Casper and noted some of the most impactful viewing experiences for her were the Lynch films she watched in Casper’s class, particularly “Blue Velvet” (1986). Given the subject matter, though, one might think “The Haunting of Hollywood” is Doytchinova’s take on “Mulholland Drive” (2001).

Doytchinova’s film “The Haunting of Hollywood” follows James Donovan (William Mann) as he attempts to pursue his dreams of becoming a director while going down a similar path as his late mother, Olivia (Tiffany Downey). As James experiences the horrors of Hollywood, he receives flashbacks of his mother, revealing that many of his problems stem from the trauma of his childhood.

On top of being her feature directorial debut, “The Haunting of Hollywood” was a long time coming. During her time working on major films, in particular “Creed II” in 2018, she would return to her hotel to work on the film’s script. She then started accumulating people for her cast and crew, eventually filming around Hollywood for two weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Doytchinova estimated the total time spent working on the film was around six years from start to finish.

Her credits include director, writer, producer, editor, production designer, set decorator, casting director, costume designer and location manager, to name a few. Although she had her hands in everything, she noted that the small crew necessitated everyone being able to do multiple duties and resulted in the crew becoming a bit like a family.

Matthew Podobinski, a producer on “The Haunting of Hollywood,” also made note of the close dynamic between the crew and Doytchinova. 

Podobinski also graduated from USC in the cinematic arts, film and television production undergraduate program, however, a year earlier than Doytchinova, in 2013. Although friends during their time at USC, they hadn’t talked for a while until a fellow alum informed Podobinski of the film. 

“[Doytchinova] is a very ambitious person. I love her creativity, I love her work ethic, she is such a hard worker and had such an amazing drive for the whole movie,” Podobinski said.

On top of his producing credit, he took on a number of roles including production assistant, driver, props and more. Despite this, he made it clear that “The Haunting of Hollywood” was Doytchinova’s project, and he helped her out with anything that she needed whenever it was needed.

Another area of collaboration was the film’s score. Doytchinova mentioned that a huge aspect of making “The Haunting of Hollywood” was based around the music, and that she considered the score to be another piece of the puzzle when it came to telling the story.

Nathan Ciaramella, the film’s composer who works under the name Snowfx, also mentioned both the importance of music in the film and Doytchinova’s impact on the score. Ciaramella, an experienced film composer with a solo orchestral electronic album on the way, mentioned that, after responding to a Craigslist ad for the film, Doytchinova came to him with a clear vision and reached out to him before shooting began with a large amount of concepts for Ciaramella to build on. From there, Ciaramella created a “suite” of music for Doytchinova to use. 

“If I gave her a keyboard, she would’ve made the music, too,” Ciaramella said.

Doytchinova emphasized the importance of Hollywood history in her film, such as the presence of several icons through impersonators — namely Charlie Chaplin, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe — and the influence of the true story of Peg Entwistle on Downey’s character. As a result, it was important for Doytchinova to use famous Hollywood landmarks to truly make the film stand out. The COVID-19 pandemic helped significantly in this regard.

Though the production of “The Haunting of Hollywood” took only two weeks, it was also a strange two weeks. The film, which takes place across many Hollywood landmarks, was shot during the pandemic, meaning the normally full streets were completely empty. 

“It was a wild time, especially because Hollywood Boulevard was empty and we had the thing to ourselves. That doesn’t really happen on a low-budget movie like that; only Quentin Tarantino can really shut down the Boulevard for ‘Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood’ [(2019]. I feel that it added this layer of ghosts and suspense, which the movie is about.” Doytchinova said.

Doytchinova’s film has already secured acclaim in film festivals around Los Angeles as well as internationally. Doytchinova and members of her cast also made appearances at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival in conjunction with the film’s showcasing at the Marché du Film, one of the largest film marketplaces in the world for industry professionals. The film has been out on indie film streamer Mometu, with planned releases for Amazon Prime Video and Fandango at Home on May 6. 

Doytchinova seems nowhere near done with the concepts she explored within “The Haunting of Hollywood.” She has taken particular interest in the life of Entwistle. 

“I got even deeper into Peg’s story,” said Doytchinova. “I did my research on her, from her Broadway career to L.A., and I was fascinated by it.” 

She has planned a 1930s period piece television series based on Entwistle’s life. Aside from this, she has plans for a couple of shorts, a music video and another feature. On top of all of that, her Bulgarian heritage has become a new source of inspiration. Doytchinova will be very busy in the coming years.

“This journey has not only been about having fun being creative with other creative people,” Doytchinova said. “But it’s been, in a way, a spiritual journey of strengthening the belief in myself and of this path of a filmmaker I want to have in my life.”