Danielle's directorial debut is Invasion '53, a 10-minute short film about a man-eating alien who crashes a suburban cocktail party. The movie stars Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and was produced with Kurt Uebersax (Elf-Man, America's Most Wanted).
World Premiere!
Invasion ’53 will have its world premiere at Cinequest Film Festival! Our team is honored to compete in this Oscar-qualifying festival. Cinequest’s legacy is the fusion of creativity and technological innovation to empower the lives of artists, audiences, and communities. We look forward to invading Silicon Valley this March and sharing our film with audiences for the first time.
Screenings
March 22, 2025 at 2:00 PM, 3Below Theaters, San Jose, CA, Cinequest Film Festival. Tickets.
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Invasion '53 is currently on its festival run. Check back for additional screening dates.
Director's Statement
At my first meeting with our star, Jeffrey Combs, he called Invasion ’53 “a Twilight Zone haiku.” That’s a great description of what we set out to make. This short film is a sendup of the sometimes scary, sometimes campy, but always delightful sci-fi flicks of the 1950s. I set this picture during a suburban cocktail party, incorporating as many ‘50s sci-fi tropes as possible. My hope is that when the lights come down and the projector turns on, the audience is transported back to the heyday of sci-fi films and is thoroughly entertained by our Twilight Zone haiku.
—Danielle Weinberg
Trailer
Pictured: Jeffrey Combs, Annie Gill, John Judy, Nicole Halmos, Rick Kain, Michal Sinnott, Dan Franko, Zach Brewster-Geisz, Lisa Randazzo Kearns, Kurt Uebersax, and Danielle Weinberg