![\"Mute](\"https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/edmontonjournal/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Screen-Shot-2026-07-23-at-4.34.05-PM.png\" "\\"Mute")
Several Canadian filmmakers who have adapted the work of bestselling horror author Stephen King will showcase their films at a U.S. convention dedicated entirely to his legacy this fall.
British Columbia producer Norm Coyne and New Brunswick Director Jon Mann are among the Canadians whose Stephen King-inspired short films have been selected for KingCon in Atlantic City, New Jersey, running Oct. 22-24.
The event, which drew a near-sellout crowd during its inaugural convention in 2024, celebrates King’s work and the filmmakers who join the finite list of people have brought his short stories to the screen: Frank Darabont, Rob Reiner, Tobe Hooper, John Carpenter, Brian De Palma, Mike Flanagan, Mick Garris, and Stanley Kubrick. The list also includes a handful of Canadians like David Cronenberg, Norm Coyne and Jon Mann.
For Coyne, the journey began with King’s famous “Dollar Baby” program, which for decades allowed aspiring filmmakers to license select short stories for just one dollar.
“I thought it was ‘BS’,” Coyne laughed. “Someone at Northern FanCon told me about it. My producing partner and director James Douglas applied on a Saturday and by Monday he had the contract.”
That opportunity became The Doctor’s Case, King’s Sherlock Holmes story, filmed at Emily Carr House, Craigdarroch Castle, and Barkerville in Victoria, British Columbia. Featuring Denise Crosby (Pet Sematary) and William B. Davis (The X-Files), the production raised roughly $80,000 through crowdfunding and private donors before earning dozens of festival awards.
Samuel Peralta has produced a few Stephen King dollar baby films. Willa (2024), Luckey Quarter (2023), Dedication (2021), Rest Stop (2015), Big Driver (2015).
“Luckey Quarter will screen at King Con this year, it is an animated short film,” says Peralta.
Coyne, founder of Prince George’s Northern FanCon, has since produced feature films, helped develop rural filming locations across northern British Columbia, and was selected twice for the Netflix-Banff Diversity of Voices fellowship for Indigenous filmmakers.
Mann’s path was similar. After discovering the Dollar Baby program, the New Brunswick filmmaker chose to adapt King’s Popsy, producing an 11-minute short becoming one of only six films screened during the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ celebration of the program’s 47-year history. He was the only Canadian filmmaker represented.
“It was validating for someone making horror,” Mann said. “It’s incredible that an author would be so open with their work and allow other people to become part of that world.”
Mann added King deserves enormous credit for helping launch emerging filmmakers.
“I think we have a lot to owe to Stephen for the ide, and now celebrations like KingCon are great,” he said.
Coyne agrees. During the pandemic, he organized two online festivals featuring approximately 50 Dollar Baby films from 28 countries after receiving King’s permission to stream the adaptations.
“KingCon is awesome,” he said. “It’s great to see these short films and projects being championed.”
Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.
Sign up for the Fort McMurray Today newsletter here
You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.
","slug":"canadian-filmmakers-float-stephen-king-short-stories-to-u-s-convention","publicPath":"/news/2026-07-23-canadian-filmmakers-float-stephen-king-short-stories-to-u-s-convention"}}