David William James Elliott's short film I Forgot to Unsubscribe from a Stock Footage Service, which has garnered numerous awards and critical acclaim on the independent circuit, is set to debut on YouTube on July 24, 2026. The film, which explores the absurdity of a forgotten subscription, will be released on the debut channel of RIOUGA, a new production company founded by Elliott and Juan Sebastian Carcosa.
The film's premise is rooted in a common modern annoyance: signing up for a free trial, forgetting about it, and being charged an annual fee that costs more to cancel than to keep. Elliott turned this real-life experience into a metatextual documentary that follows a filmmaker's increasingly desperate schemes to reclaim his money using stock footage. The piece is described as part memoir, part existential horror for aging millennials trapped in the service industry.
During its festival run, the film was screened in Mumbai, Tokyo, Paris, Cannes, London, Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York. It accumulated dozens of awards, including Best Stunt and Best Female Director—despite being directed by a man and composed entirely of stock footage. The film also earned recognition for its voice work, writing, editing, and a homage to David Lynch's Mulholland Drive recreated with stock clips. This unusual array of accolades has inspired Elliott to develop an upcoming project exposing scam film festivals, though he remains tight-lipped about details until filming concludes.
Elliott, an MIT and Stanford graduate with training from Second City, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Steppenwolf, and The Annoyance, and a BJJ Black Belt, famously turned down an opportunity to write for Saturday Night Live in 2012 to build sustainable farms in developing nations. He credits the subscription mishap with reigniting his return to the arts, which has led to five other film projects and a poetry book released within the past six months.
"I was happy making one-off appearances on murder mystery shows and helping with camera work," Elliott said from his Milwaukee workshop. "But a combination of being stuck with that subscription and receiving a free waiver from the Milwaukee Film Festival inspired this project. That, in turn, inspired a variety of other projects, including exposés on the art industry and the film festival vanity press machine."
One such project is Hypernormalization 2: Revenge of the Titans, which began as a throwaway gag in I Forgot before becoming a 60-minute documentary. Despite legal hurdles, it won several awards, including "Most Likely to Be Cancelled" from a dubious festival with no digital footprint.
RIOUGA, which stands for Royal Institute of Objectively Universally Good Art, is described by its founders as "PBS meets Adult Swim, for burnouts, by burnouts." The startup is currently developing three interview series alongside a collection of short films and documentaries scheduled for release throughout the summer and fall. RIOUGA aims to be a counterpoint to both AI and corporate polish, encouraging people to pick up old hobbies and return to their dreams.
The debut of I Forgot to Unsubscribe from a Stock Footage Service on YouTube marks a new chapter for the film and for RIOUGA, which seeks to explore everything from fine art to niche subcultures. The implications for viewers include a unique blend of humor and existential reflection, while the industry may see a shift toward more independent, creator-driven content that challenges traditional film festivals and subscription models.
