David William James Elliott’s short film I Forgot to Unsubscribe from a Stock Footage Service, which has garnered dozens of awards on the independent festival circuit, will premiere on YouTube on July 24, 2026. The film, which Elliott describes as part memoir, part metatextual documentary, and part existential horror for aging millennials, follows a filmmaker’s increasingly desperate attempts to reclaim money from a forgotten subscription by using the stock footage he is stuck with.
The film’s inspiration came from a real-life experience: Elliott signed up for a free trial, forgot about it, and ended up paying an annual fee. “I was happy making one-off appearances on murder mystery shows and helping with camera work,” Elliott said. “But a combination of being stuck with that subscription and receiving a free waiver from the Milwaukee Film Festival inspired this project.” That project, in turn, led to five other film projects and a poetry book, all released within six months.
During its festival run, the film accumulated an unusual array of awards, including Best Stunt and Best Female Director, despite being directed by a man and composed entirely of stock footage. It also received recognition for its voice work, writing, editing, and a homage to David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive recreated with stock clips. Elliott is now working on an upcoming project exposing scam film festivals, though details remain under wraps.
The YouTube debut will air on the new channel RIOUGA (Royal Institute of Objectively Universally Good Art), a startup production company co-founded by Elliott and Juan Sebastian Carcosa. Described as “PBS meets Adult Swim, for burnouts, by burnouts,” RIOUGA aims to explore fine art and niche subcultures. The network is developing three interview series and a collection of short films and documentaries scheduled for release through summer and fall.
Elliott, an MIT and Stanford graduate with training at Second City, the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Steppenwolf, walked away from a chance to write for Saturday Night Live in 2012 to build sustainable farms in developing nations. He credits the subscription incident with reigniting his return to the arts. “It inspired a variety of other projects, including exposés on the art industry and the film festival vanity press machine,” he said.
The film’s release on YouTube marks a shift from its successful festival run, which included screenings in Mumbai, Tokyo, Paris, Cannes, London, Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York. As RIOUGA launches, Elliott hopes to encourage viewers to rediscover their own creative pursuits. “The network is designed as a counterpoint to both AI and corporate polish,” he said, “intending to inspire people to pick up their old hobbies and return to their dreams.”
