Aaron Sims’ Archetype: Another YouTube Short Gathers Online Buzz

From Fede Alvarez’ Panic Attack! to Patrick Jean’s Pixels, YouTube continues to be great way for Hollywood hopefuls to land production deals. Every now and then, a short film that is posted online manages to attract the attention of everyone on the internet, which in turn attracts the attention of studio execs. While a lot of these filmmakers are still unproven, it’s hard to deny the level of talent and creativity they bring to the table.

This time around it is veteran art director and special effects designer Aaron Sims who has set the blogosphere on fire with his short film Archetype. The plot involves a combat robot who malfunctions and begins to believe that he is partially human. Sims is hoping to turn the idea into a feature-length film, and although I haven’t heard anything about any studio offers as of yet, I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds funding for it. There’s certainly an audience out there for this kind of pulpy science-fiction goodness. What do you think, could this lead to the next District 9? Check out the full 5-minute short after the jump.



  • Niklas

    didnt like it

  • Court

    Meh. I’ll stick with Johnny 5.

  • Steve

    SFX-wise, it’s stunning. I imagine it fits into a larger story, and I’d be interested to see it if he get’s it made.

  • Brendan

    The opening shots were ok, but once it got into the interview, it was pretty bad. Seemed like one of those SyFy original movies.

  • Brendan

    BTW, anyone watch the next video that auto plays right after this one, with the girl with the accent and big boobs saying how good it was? I enjoyed that video better. It had two things going for it.

  • chris g.

    WOW, this sounds awesome!!! I know what they should call it, I, Robot, or something like that…..

  • Steve Kasan

    Honestly, this would make a great game for PS3 or 360 and it would succeed in that medium than say a feature film.

  • As much as social media bothers me, this is the main reason I love it. It gives wanna be movie makers no excuses anymore. Because if it is good enough it will get noticed.

  • ben

    Did this go to any festivals, or was it just a youtube release? Killer job.

  • they would of helped themselves by not making the robots voice in the interview soooo human. don’t see the need; the voice can be mechanical and the robot still can think its human. really pulled me out of the scene.

  • KicK@ass

    I’LL watch the hell out of that movie.

  • Hex

    Loved it when I first saw it, back when it was called RoboCop.