Cult Short Film 'I Forgot to Unsubscribe from a Stock Footage Service' to Debut on YouTube, Launching New Texas-Based Production Company RIOUGA

David William James Elliott's cult hit short film, I Forgot to Unsubscribe from a Stock Footage Service, is set to debut on YouTube on July 24, 2026, marking the launch of RIOUGA, a new production company co-founded by Elliott and Juan Sebastian Carcosa. The film, which has garnered dozens of awards on the independent circuit, tells the story of a filmmaker who, after forgetting to cancel a stock footage subscription, embarks on increasingly desperate schemes to reclaim his money using the very footage he is stuck with.

The film's journey began with a real-life experience: Elliott signed up for a free trial, forgot about it, and found himself stuck with an annual fee. This incident sparked a creative resurgence for Elliott, who had previously walked away from an opportunity to write for Saturday Night Live in 2012 to build sustainable farms in developing nations. '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.'

The film has screened in Mumbai, Tokyo, Paris, Cannes, London, Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York, accumulating a bizarre array of awards including Best Stunt and Best Female Director, despite being directed by a man and composed entirely of stock footage. It also won recognition for its voice work, writing, editing, and a homage to David Lynch's Mulholland Drive recreated with stock clips. This success has inspired an upcoming project exposing scam film festivals, though Elliott remains tight-lipped 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, credits the subscription snafu with inciting his return to the arts. This return has yielded five other film projects and a poetry book, all released within the past six months. One such project, Hypernormalization 2: Revenge of the Titans, began as a throwaway gag in I Forgot before becoming a 60-minute documentary that won several awards despite legal hurdles.

RIOUGA, which stands for Royal Institute of Objectively Universally Good Art, is an independent arts and culture production company described by its founders as 'PBS meets Adult Swim, for burnouts, by burnouts.' The network 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, inspiring 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 will mark the first major release for the new network, which is set to explore everything from fine art to niche subcultures.